Chief Minister Alf Cannan has accused his former health minister of seeking to “lay the blame of his own failings at the door of the Council of Ministers”.
Mr Cannan was reacting to Mr Hooper’s comments yesterday when he accused the Chief Minister and CoMin of not being committed to an NHS that is free at the point of use.
He said that the claims were misrepresented and came after, the Chief Minister said was Mr Hooper “contriving last Thursday, a council paper asking for unequivocal support for healthcare free at the point of delivery, knowing full well that council would reject his advances with a £16m overspend forecast and no solutions in front of us other than cuts to service”.
In an stunningly critical speech, he added: “I’m sorry that the former minister decided it’s more important to go to Jersey than stay and debate the delivery of healthcare to the people of the Isle of Man.
“Sorry, but not surprised. This, after all, was part of a contrived plan he had to rid himself of his responsibilities by seeking to stitch up his resignation through a series of actions that enabled him to, at least in his own mind, accused the Council of Ministers and myself of wanting to privatise health care.
“That statement on privatisation was, of course, a fabrication. It is a falsehood and a slur on the Council of Ministers, and the minister has done it to perpetrate a distraction.”
Funding
Mr Cannan went on to say that Mr Hooper knew in April that Manx Care would not be sticking to its budget this year.
The Chief Minister said: “He [Mr Hooper] knew in April that an external body had told him that budget holders were in the dark and that operational activities were not being costed, and neither was there a long term financial plan.
“He knew back in April that an external body had told him that finances were not even a major risk identified for board appraisal, instead of telling us this, instead of releasing that report, instead of taking direct action to get resolution, he decided that gaslighting the public that the service was underfunded was the best way forward to cover inaction.”
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