The man heading negotiations for the UK Healthcare Commission met Island health chiefs yesterday to discuss how inspections could be undertaken and how much they will cost.
Simon Gillespie said that it was still undecided exactly what level of inspection would be wanted, but the minimum package would cost in the region of tens of thousands of pounds.
It would not, however, be more than £100,000.
That top figure would only rise, he said, if a rather more detailed analysis of services was requested.
Mr Gillespie, a former Royal Navy captain and operations manager for the partly publicly funded independent health watchdog, said that his remit could include looking at access to healthcare and the morale of staff if that affected the quality of service.
He explained that the minimum inspection of ‘core services’ would be based where possible on the benchmarks established in the UK.
It would also include consultation with patients.
‘We work quite publicly,’ he said.
‘It is well documented that the inspection regime, the impact of independent inspections, improves the delivery of better standards.’
