Health and Social Services Department: Management Improvement Plan.

STATES OF JERSEY

HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES DEPARTMENT: MANAGEMENT IMPROVEMENT PLAN

Lodged au Greffe on 17th March 2010 by Deputy R.G. Le Hérissier of St. Saviour

STATES GREFFE

2010   Price code: A  P.31

PROPOSITION

THE STATES are asked to decide whether they are of opinion

to request the Minister for Health and Social Services to prepare and present to the Assembly for information within 6 months of the date on which the recently appointed Chief Executive takes up her post –

1. a Management Improvement Plan for the Health and Social Services Department which,  inter alia, provides a structure, and leads to a culture, which underpins implementation of the recommendations of the Verita Report; and
2. plans  for  the  introduction  of  strengthened  and  credible  whistle- blowing procedures and patient complaint procedures.

DEPUTY R.G. LE HÉRISSIER OF ST. SAVIOUR

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REPORT

The  Minister  has  made  much  play  of  the  implementation  of  the  core 29 recommendations of the Verita Report. Unfortunately, follow-up questions in the House have not convinced the writer that the broader, underlying issues have been given the right prominence. The Minister keeps saying: "We must move on." At the end of the day, there will need to be radical change to restore staff morale and the faith of the public in the Department. There will need to be convincing evidence of a major shift in management culture and of the existence of strong checks and balances.

There is an assumption that what members are looking for is to make staff accountable for the errors and alleged incompetence that brought the Department to this unhappy juncture. Sadly, there has also developed a defensiveness based on the perception that certain  members  see  a  conspiracy  around  every  corner  of  the  Health  and  Social Services Department. The writer does not subscribe to that view.

Certainly, there is a need for accountability, but it is equally important to ensure that the foundations for change are properly laid so that there genuinely is a fresh start.

In a sense, the Verita Report is a Report of 2 parts. First, there is a detailed description and  analysis  of  the  circumstances  surrounding  the  tragic  death  of  Mrs. Rourke. Second, there are general comments, often of a highly critical nature, concerning the management  culture  and  the  need  for  robust  complaint  and  whistle-blowing procedures.

If the substantial changes implied in the findings of Verita are to be implemented, it is crucial that management reforms and reforms to the complaints procedures be carried out in parallel to the specific, often procedural, changes recommended by Verita. This proposition is written in general terms so that the Minister has flexibility in the kind of changes proposed. I do not wish to be accused of micro-management or of tying the hands of the new Chief Executive.

Conclusion

The Department has been subject to enormous stress in recent years. The Minister needs to ensure that the House is behind her in what will be a period of major change.

We must also remember that, notwithstanding the tragedy of what happened in the Hospital, much needs to be done in Social Services – historically, the "forgotten" part of the Department. An Assistant Minister for Health and Social Services, Deputy Noel, has drawn attention to the apparent propensity of members to interfere in the details of management.

He is right to warn us off, but the intention of this proposition is not to do that. It is to ensure that the fundamental issues exposed by Verita, and in the course of the child abuse inquiries, are fully addressed and that members can have confidence in the direction in which the Department is headed.

Financial and manpower implications

Proposing these measures is an integral part of political leadership and of the civil service leadership of the Department and there are therefore no additional financial or manpower implications.

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