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WQ.350/2021
WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES
BY DEPUTY M.R. HIGGINS OF ST. HELIER
QUESTION SUBMITTED ON MONDAY 12th JULY 2021
ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON MONDAY 19th JULY 2021
Question
Will the Minister advise what consideration he has given to the impact on the Department of Health and Community Services, and its relationship with Islanders, not only of the decision not to publish the performance report for the Department due to concerns that the report would be "sensationalised" (as stated at a public hearing of the Public Accounts Committee) but also of concerns expressed about the availability of minutes of meetings of the Scientific and Technical Advisory Cell; and will he state when the performance report will be published and what other measures, if any, he intends to pursue to ensure public confidence in the Department is maintained?
Answer
The Minister for Health and Social Services always had the intention of making information about the department's services and related performance available to Islanders to support an open and transparent culture, whilst also ensuring Islanders have access to health and social care performance data in a reliable and understandable manner.
Due to legacy processes and IT systems, including the continued existence of paper-based systems and no dedicated informatics resources, this information was not easily available in the past.
However, since 2019, more data has been made available across the Government and in particular for Health and Community Services (HCS). This includes: the publication of detailed waiting list numbers across a range of specialities; HCS service performance data in the Annual Report & Accounts; the HCS Departmental Business Plan; the 6-month update report of the Government Plan; and metrics in the Jersey Performance Framework.
In addition, HCS has developed a robust governance framework based on the 2018 report and recommendations of the Comptroller and Auditor General to increase and maintain public confidence. The HCS governance culminates in the HCS Health Board chaired by the Minister for Health and Social Services. The board is held in public and includes representation from partner organisations.
As part of its overall review of the governance arrangements, the Department also focused on the delivery of a performance report that looked at measurable indices of healthcare – as is best practice in other jurisdictions. The report is produced by the internal HCS Health Informatics Team and consists of a range of data metrics over time grouped by services. By its nature, it is a technical report designed to track activity as well as quality metrics to support improvement and continuous learning across health and social services.
The Performance Report has been presented at the HCS Board meetings in the past and the next report will be presented at the public HCS Board meeting on 9 August 2021. HCS is working on mechanisms to publish this and future reports on the gov.je website.
STAC minutes are available on gov.je and are being made available as soon as reasonably practicable.