THE Island's Health Minister has said the health service must focus on preventing illnesses rather than curing them.
David Anderson MHK spoke out at the launch of a new strategy which outlines the future of the health service for the next 10 years in the Isle of Man.
He said: "It's very important for the health service moving forwards that we can optimise our resources and target the areas that will be most beneficial to our population.
"We want to change the emphasis from treating patients' problems to prevention. This is not a new message but it's one we need to emphasise over and over again.
"There is a tremendous opportunity to prevent a lot of conditions and it's more effective to put those resources in, years ahead, to make sure people do not develop these conditions in middle and old age."
A Strategy for the Future of Health Services in the Isle of Man was compiled by the Public Health Directorate under the supervision of Director Dr Parameswaran Kishore.
He said: "When you have a strategy you need to get the bigger picture. We had to sit back and think 'what do we want our health care service to look like in 10 years time?'
"Healthcare is expanding and more and more innovations are available and they're not cheap. We can't afford to fund all the new interventions. We need to look very carefully at what's best in terms of effectiveness. We need to prioritise.
"We also need to look at the balance of care. Right now there are certain things that are happening in the hospital which could be provided a lot more cost effectively, and the quality would improve, if they were provided in the community.
"We need to look at what it feels like to be a patient. We need people who have been through the service to help us redesign the service."
The Department of Health has stated that the current financial situation is not the main reason for this strategy and the Minister for Health said that any financial implications would have to be worked around.
Mr Anderson explained: "We need to make better use of the resources we have. We might not have a greater budget but it is making sure that the budget we have we do more with.
"We've got to look at the services we are delivering and how much it's costing to deliver those services. To give you an example at the moment we're spending an awesome amount of money on actually referring people to expertise in the UK.
"For example pacemaker implants are done strategically in the UK. However we have the professionals on Island who can deliver the service if we put the resource in. This will save money in the long run."
Mr Anderson also ruled out that the upcoming General Election in September would affect the future of the strategy. He said: "It is a 10 year plan but we have to start embracing it now. The quicker we can roll this out the more effective we can deliver the health service to the people in the Isle of Man."
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