The Isle of Man Government were seeking to identify a partner to support the deliver an independent review of its the provision of health and social care services to be led by Sir Jonathan Michael.
12 months later the publication of the report and its wide-ranging findings has made the national news (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/world-europe-isle-of-man-48368540) we thought we would share a little more about the background to the project, the approach we took and our findings.
The Challenge
For several years, the overall cost of running the Isle of Man health and care services exceeded the annual allocated funding, primarily within the secondary care. Government was concerned as to the sustainability of the current model, the potential financial burden in the future and the levels and quality of care provided.
They commissioned a yearlong independent review, led by external chair Sir Jonathan Michael, to consider and make recommendations on the following:
- What is currently being spent on health & social care, is it sufficient and does it represent value for money?
- What is the likely increase in funding required, projected to the end of the financial year 2035-36, and how might that be funded?
- Is the current service model for the delivery of health and social care to the Isle of Man population optimal now and for the future?
Working closely with the Chair and with a small team of civil servants, our team worked across all aspects of delivery modelling, workforce, technology, economic modelling and engagement with key stakeholders and the public on this high profile, Government required, review.
What we did
Our approach was to bring together a team of highly skilled consultants who took responsibility, under the direction of our lead and alongside officials and the chair, to work across the multiple aspects of this wide ranging review, using a combination of international comparisons of similar health and care systems, including models of care and where care was best delivered, financial comparators and digital maturity and opportunities to embrace technology further to improve services and reduce costs or time. We used economic modelling approaches to develop forecast models, based where necessary of assumptions where key data was missing, alongside identifying both anomalies which couldn’t be explained as to discreet cost variances and prospective efficiency targets which were both demanding but achievable,
Outcome
The Chair of the Review agreed to present 26 transformational recommendations as to how health and care should be delivered in the future. The final review report introduced the key recommendations and spanned all aspects of the current health and care system. It provided a positive route map for change which would lead to a fundamental shift in where and how health and care services will be delivered in the future alongside the need to embrace an even faster adoption of new technology, options to address the current and future workforce challenges and options for funding the inevitable increased costs whilst bending the curve of those increase costs and ensure the services are sustainable – both financially and clinically – for the future.
Speaking to the BBC, Health minister David Ashford described the report as a “once-in-a-generation” chance to put patients “at the centre of everything we do”.