"We think it's inhumane the way he was treated."

Family of boy at centre of patient transfer issues call for apology from Manx Care

The family of a boy who had to travel to Alder Hey by boat because Manx Care allegedly refused to provide an air ambulance say the way he was treated was 'inhumane'.

Fifteen-year-old Jamie seriously injured his hand last week and experienced a number of issues while trying to get the right care.

Despite clinicians at Noble's Hospital recommending he be airlifted to Alder Hey, his family say the patient transfer team refused and told him to get the ferry instead.

The incident happened at around 3.30pm on Thursday 30 April, and he didn't arrive at the children's hospital in Liverpool until 2am the next day.

In addition, his family claim the team there hadn't been informed that Jamie was on his way, and didn't have the resources to perform the surgery he needed until Saturday (2 May) afternoon.

His brother Gary says Jamie's now suffered 'life-changing' injuries because of the amount of time it took to get him to the children's hospital in Liverpool.

"Since he was a kid, he's always wanted to be a Formula One driver, so this hand injury has put his career down a different path. He's devastated about it, as anyone would be." - Gary

Gary has been telling Amy Griffiths what happened - this audio does contain graphic descriptions of the injuries Jamie sustained:

"All we want from Manx Care is just an apology because he has a life-changing injury and a statement trying to cover themselves up isn't enough." - Gary

When responding to the claims first raised on social media, Manx Care told Manx Radio it cannot comment on individual cases.

It added: "We can confirm that all patients requiring urgent transfer to the UK for specialist treatment are assessed by experienced clinicians, who determine the appropriate means of transfer based on individual clinical need.

"These decisions are made using professional judgement, supported by clinical guidelines and relevant assessment tools, to ensure patients receive safe and appropriate care.

"Where concerns are escalated these are investigated thoroughly by our MCALS team to ensure that any opportunities for learning are identified and resolved."

We have since asked Manx Care to respond to these updated claims from Jamie's family.

Manx Radio has also approached Alder Hey for a comment.

You can listen to our full interview with Gary in the episode of Newscast below: