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1240/5(5508)
WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES BY DEPUTY G.P. SOUTHERN OF ST. HELIER
ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 6th JULY 2010
Question
"Will the Minister inform members of the decision-making process relating to her Comprehensive Spending Review proposals, to include the timeline of meetings at which these decisions were made and who was making these decisions?
Where services are to be reduced, will the Minister produce any risk or cost/benefit analysis carried out on the change?
Will the Minister state which, if any, services are to be outsourced along with the estimated costs of such moves?
Where there are to be job losses, will the Minister give details of the terms and conditions being offered to staff under any Voluntary Redundancy or Voluntary Early Retirement scheme which is in place, and state what timescale is envisioned for any such processes given that these proposals will not receive sanction from the States until September 2010?
Will the Minister also give details of what consultation, if any, with employee representatives has taken place or will take place?"
Answer
In early March 2010, each directorate, within the Health & Social Services (H&SS) Department, was tasked with identifying initial savings of 2, 3, and 5% for the next three years as part of the States-wide Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR). These proposals were submitted to the H&SS Senior Management Team in mid March 2010. The Corporate Directors subsequently identified the most suitable schemes to take forward for 2011. These were judged to have the lowest impact upon front line services and were also the most likely to release cash within the shortest time frame. Following, discussions with their clinical teams, Directorate Managers submitted more detail of the proposed schemes. These proposals identified potential impacts upon the level of service, the risks associated with the scheme and the financial savings likely to be realised over the timeframe. These proposals, identifying initial views on the risk and cost/benefit analysis were completed in a short timeframe and are currently being further revised as the proposals are considered in greater detail. This information is available from the Department upon request.
On the 9th April 2010, the Minister and Assistant Ministers were briefed in relation to the proposals and rejected schemes that they considered unsuitable. On the 12th April 2010, those schemes that had been approved in principle by the Minister were submitted to the Treasury Department. On the 26th April, the Ministerial team considered the proposals in more detail and they were then peer-reviewed by a Minister of another Department on the 28th April 2010. These proposals were considered by the Council of Ministers at workshops on 6th and 19th May 2010. Following the decision of the Council of Ministers to agree the Departmental CSR schemes for 2% savings in 2011, the Directorate Managers were updated with regard to these decisions on the 25th May 2010. The proposals for cost savings under consideration for 2011 are predominantly related to reductions or redesign of existing services. There are two schemes that involve potential outsourcing. Firstly, the closure of the sewing room which, amongst other things, makes theatre greens, alters uniforms for staff and marks up H&SS linen. The proposal is that theatres will purchase disposable garments whilst uniforms and pre marked linen will be purchased direct from suppliers. This proposal results in the reduction of five posts and potential recurrent savings of an estimated £100, 000 per year. Secondly, the proposal to close the hydrotherapy pool at the General Hospital may include outsourcing this facility to other hydrotherapy pools in the Island. These proposals are under development at this time.
In total, the 2011 schemes result in an estimated recurrent annual saving of £3.7 million and a reduction of thirty two posts across the H&SS Department. In all cases, options to redeploy staff will be the Minister's first consideration for those affected by these proposals. Where appropriate, a staff member may be considered for Voluntary Redundancy or Voluntary Early Retirement. This will be considered for implementation at the beginning of 2011 and in accordance with the existing States-wide scheme at that time. In all such cases, employee representatives have been involved to date. Employee representatives have received four detailed briefings since March 2010, in relation to the 2011 proposals and ongoing dialogue with staff and their representatives is planned as part of the CSR process. Front line staff have submitted sixty proposals to save money in the Department via the interactive H&SS CSR website. These suggestions are being investigated for inclusion in the saving plans for 2011-2013.