A GP says he is 'staggered' at Health Minister David Anderson's comments on the saving of the overnight Manx Emergency Doctor Service (MEDS).

Dr Richard Hamm says he also believes the department has effectively performed a U-turn.

There had been widespread concern the department was planning to scrap the overnight service, which is based at Noble's Hospital between midnight and 8am.

However, in Tynwald yesterday, Mr Anderson said that following consultation it had been agreed doctors operating MEDS would take a pay cut, in order to keep it running.

He also said that some suggestions which had been made by the department to save money had been taken out of context and presented as a done deal which wasn't the case.

On Mandate today, Dr Hamm said the matter had never been discussed and the first GPs knew about any plans to cut back MEDS was at an emergency meeting, the purpose of which was kept secret (play audio file):

Dr Hamm says the matter may have been resolved to the health department's satisfaction, but he believes the situation may have gone too far for the air to be cleared with the new minister.