Medical director 'risked career' to highlight dangers of Covid

Whistleblower contacted minister and health consultant

The senior doctor who's taken the government to an employment tribunal says she 'risked her career' to highlight the dangers facing the Manx public during Covid.

Dr Rosalind Ranson revealed she reached out to a minister, and the man behind the transformation of the Department of Health and Social Care, after fearing her concerns weren't being passed on.

Focus at the tribunal today switched to the disclosures the medical director made which she claims led to detrimental treatment and, ultimately, her unfair dismissal.

Dr Ranson had put together a document calling for increased testing, and the Island's borders to close, prior to the first case of Covid-19 being identified on Island.

But she became suspicious that then chief executive Kathryn Magson hadn't passed the details on to the Council of Ministers.

She claimed she was forbidden from speaking directly to the health minister at the time, David Ashford, so reached out through then Education Minister Dr Alex Allinson instead.

She told the panel she was risking her career by doing so.

Dr Ranson says she told the Ramsey MHK people would die if her advice wasn't followed and that Ms Magson didn't comprehend the seriousness of the situation.

In a separate disclosure she outlined how she'd called for a graph to be removed from the government's website because it was, in her opinion, misleading politicians and the public.

However Dr Ranson says she was told by the chief executive that Minister Ashford was 'wedded to the graph' despite the medical director's claims that it was 'far from representative of the Isle of Man'.

She also went on to describe an email sent to Sir Jonathan Michael - the consultant behind a review into the DHSC which led to the creation of Manx Care.

Dr Ranson sought out Sir Jonathan because she still felt restricted by Ms Magson despite her previous conversation with Dr Allinson.

This came after she questioned the modelling, relating to unmitigated spread of cases, with Dr Ranson fearing it would be much higher than government predicted.

The medical director says she flagged these concerns to Sir Jonathan because she didn't have anyone else to go to hoping, that as he was at the heart of government through his work on the DHSC transformation project, that he would understand.

The tribunal is due to hear from Ms Magson next week.