A radical shake-up of the Manx Health Service will see the departure of its top three civil servants all in one day.
Chief executive David Killip, his deputy Lesley Keenan and director of health care delivery Norman McGregor Edwards are all taking retirement as from March 31.
The Department of Health also has a new minister after David Anderson MHK lost his job in Chief Minister Allan Bell’s reshuffle earlier this month.
The vacancy for Mr Killip’s successor as chief executive of the newly remerged Department of Health and Social Care has been advertised on the government’s website.
Described as a ‘challenging, diverse and influential role’, in charge of a workforce of more than 3,000 and a budget of over £239m, the post comes with a salary of between £97,254 and £121,467.
Colin Kniveton has been appointed interim chief executive until the post is filled.
In an email to all staff he wrote: ‘I understand that change can be unsettling, but I also want to reassure you that whilst this new structure will be critical to how we deliver health and social care in the future, initially for the vast majority of you the changes coming into effect on April 1 will have no immediate impact on your day-to-day work.
‘As the Minister said in his message to you a fortnight ago, it is vital that we continue with business as usual, focussing on delivering our services to the public to the very best of our ability. I don’t underestimate the scale of the work we have to do.’
A new management structure, as recommended in a review carried out by management consultants Beamans, will see the department split into five main areas - Acute Care, Community Services, Executive Office, Public Health and Occupational Health – each with a director reporting directly to the chief executive.
The new Health and Social Care Minister Howard Quayle said: ‘Over the next couple of months we will all be stretched.
‘But we have a good team and we will do our utmost to get the very best to fill these positions.’
Mr Quayle said he hoped to be interviewing applicants for the chief executive role in May. He described a successor for Mr McGregor Edwards as a ‘key position’.
David Killip announced last month he is taking early retirement, two years ahead of his planned date, after 38 years’ service. Last month, he was censured by Tynwald amid a row over misleading statements given by Health Minister David Anderson to the House of Keys.
Figures released in Tynwald in 2010 showed he earned £105,785 as chief executive of the DHSS and kept that salary as chief executive of the Department of Health after the DHSS was split into two in the government restructuring in April of that year.
Norman McGregor Edwards retires after a 41-year career, 23 being in health, having worked for an additional three years beyond retirement age. Before moving to the island in 2005, he was director of health in the Falkland Islands. Lesley Keenan is taking early retirement after working for the Department of Health in the island for 11 years.
There will be a phased implementation of the new management structure with the appointment of three of the directors likely to follow that of the chief executive.