The newly appointed health minister has been defending her decision to join the Council of Ministers, after backing a no-confidence vote in the Chief Minister less than two months ago.
Claire Christian sat down with Manx Radio's Christian Jones.
Manx Newscast
Manx Newscast: Health Minister defends joining government after no-confidence vote
How have you found the transition to your new role as the health minister following the reshuffle? It's a really good question, Christian. It's very different going from a backbencher even with positions as the economic policy reviewer to a department minister and certainly one with the capacity in department health and social care because it's very much in the department as much as I can be in every day and whilst being a backbencher you can tend to sort of go from many other different topics. This is a focus on one area so that in some ways is a slightly different change but I have scheduled, I do schedule time aside for my constituents which are extremely really important for me because after all the Douglas South constituents put me here and I certainly wouldn't want to let them down in any way. And what are your immediate priorities for the Department of Health and Social Care because I'm sure you can appreciate there's a lot happening. Yeah so the focus over the coming months will obviously be the priority will be to maintain the level of services that people rely on and ensure value for money. So obviously we are looking obviously at the, this includes identifying more efficiencies and how we run our services and prioritising resources and obviously aligning in the immediate focus, obviously aligning the operating plan with the mandate and the budget is key. Well you've previously asked the Chief Minister what re-aligning the mandate actually means. Do you have a better understanding of that now? So first of all I think really it's been the way from my understanding it's been the way that these things have come about and the order of it. So in this, the way that we're looking at it this time is that is coming up with the operating plan first and then aligning the mandate to that. And obviously the operating plan has to come within the budget so that's how, I mean essentially that's the difference. I want to come on to the motion of no confidence in the Chief Minister which you voted in favour of Alstonham. What was changed in your view of his leadership that's now led you to accept a position in his administration? Yeah so while I voted for the vote of no confidence in the Chief Minister my speech focused on nine areas of priorities for the government and when the Chief Minister was doing his following, obviously the vote of no confidence, the Chief Minister requested meetings with MHKs and MLCs and during that meeting and speaking with the Chief Minister I was able to discuss with him those nine priorities for me and it was at that point that I felt that perhaps joining the Council of Ministers would actually give me the opportunity to influence and help shape those priorities in government which was what I raised in my speech. We'll come back to things that you've said in political settings in just a moment but some might see your acceptance of this role as a contradiction to your true position. What's your response to that? So I got into public politics to make a positive difference to people's lives so at some point you would expect a ministerial role and to step up but I've got a real strong sense of duty Christian and which I mentioned about before about the electorate who have put me here and I really felt that it was was my duty to step up. I'm not someone who to shy away from a challenge and to deliver the work required to ensure that you know it's certainly in this area to have a safe and sustainable health care service for our community. As a backbencher you were a strong advocate for transparency. Why have you refused to answer questions in the House of Keys since becoming the Health Minister? Yes so I didn't refuse I just said that I was unable at that point to give Mr Hooper wanted an arbitrary answer of yes and no and I think that sometimes these things aren't quite as clear cut as that and I did appreciate Mr Hooper's frustration but it was clear and we've made it very clear that Mike's care are working on the Acosta draft operating plan and until we see that until we've had those meetings throughout December and they have promised to deliver this by the end of December we really you know we shouldn't be projecting when we don't have all of the information and the actual facts. The words you used were I'm not unable to give an answer it's my choice not to give this answer so people will hear that and think well you do know the answer but are choosing not to be transparent. I think yeah I mean obviously being transparent is about saying it's my choice and an arbitrary answer yes or no is not relevant in this scenario. We absolutely are working to bring back or Mike's care are working to bring back to balance and that's the most important thing so you know where we will be at the end of December is the most important thing and I think that that will be the time where that question will be relevant. Okay so I won't ask you for an arbitrary answer but perhaps can you give us an indication of whether you're confident that Mike's care will be able to achieve financial targets this year and next without impacting frontline services. I'm definitely confident that they are working with laser focus over this next this period of time to bring back to balance without affecting frontline services that that has to be established and that has to be agreed as I've said by towards the end of this month. You've been very outspoken on certain issues as a back venture so can we expect the same level of candor and advocacy in your new role or will collective responsibility take precedence. So as you know collective responsibility obviously means that whilst you're in the Council of Ministers you can put your points of view and put your or try and shape decisions within the Council of Ministers and then it's the decision or the majority decision obviously the majority of you have to follow. I do still have in terms to reassure my constituents I do still have according to the collective responsibility if it's a constituency matter then I don't have to follow the collective responsibility. For those at home a pre-declared position you can vote against the government you have a motion or you did have a motion in Timwald about budget reform which is now being tabled by a political colleague. Can we expect you to be voting in favour of that then? In terms of the motion which my honourable colleague and friend Mr Thomas is going to bring through and you know I definitely support all of the concepts that are in that motion. It's now been obviously discussed within government and I will be obviously supporting anything that the government do to bring that motion to fruition. What do you see as the biggest opportunity to improve health care on the Isle of Man during your tenure? So for me it's really about community and primary care focus I think that's really essential for banks care and for us as an island. I'm looking forward to looking at how we can deliver sustainable health care services for our community within that. We obviously have to face the challenges that health care costs are going up so that not necessarily an opportunity but more of a challenge. So whilst we're looking at how we obviously make our health care and keep our health care safe I'm going to be looking at what how we can develop our primary care at scale. And just finally what message would you like to convey to the public some of whom are very skeptical about where the health service could be headed at the moment? I think you know part of my skills you know and as I spoke to you before about getting into politics is about making a difference to people's lives. So I would reassure those people that if you have concerns please do reach out to the department and do talk to us. I am a good listener. This is something that I bring from certainly being as a backbencher. I'm a good communicator and I'm able to work collaboratively with all stakeholders and that includes the community at the foremost. Thank you for making it to the end of the Manks Radio newscast. You are obviously someone with exquisite taste. May I politely suggest you might want to subscribe to this and a wide range of Manks Radio podcasts at your favourite podcast provider. So our best bits will magically appear on your smartphone. Thank you. [BLANK_AUDIO]