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4.5 Deputy A.E. Jeune of the Minister for Health and Social Services regarding a function report pertaining to the Health and Social Services Department:
Given the new Chief Executive of the Health and Social Services Department was appointed with effect from 1st June 2010 and was to provide a report in respect of the functioning of the department within 6 months, would the Minister advise why this has not been received by Members and advise the date that it will be received?
Deputy A.E. Pryke of Trinity (The Minister for Health and Social Services):
The new Chief Executive has restructured the department and has appointed 2 new managing directors; one to manage the hospital and one to manage Community and Social Services. The new team are currently completing an organisational improvement plan and I will sign it off before Christmas. I will make it available to Members as soon as I have signed the Ministerial Decision. I anticipate that before the end of the year.
- Deputy A.E. Jeune :
I thank the Minister for her answer, however, P.31 was brought to this Assembly back in May and the Minister agreed with the timescale of that proposition. Similarly, on 11th May we were advised that the interim director's position was for a period of 6 months and that a new appointee would be coming through - the substantive post would be advertised fairly soon - this was in May, and we still have the same person there. We do not seem to be getting anything within the timescales, perhaps the Minister can advise why? Thank you.
The Deputy of Trinity :
The new Chief Executive started work on 1st June. It has been a very busy 6 months and I said the new department organisational plan will be with States Members before the end of the year. We are working on the substantive post, of one sort or another, for the Hospital Director and a press release was done a couple of days ago regarding the substantive post for Community Services.
- The Deputy of St. John :
Will the Minister be drawing on the consultants, KPMG, within the reply she is going to give us later in the months or is this going to come directly from the employee we took on a few months ago?
The Deputy of Trinity :
Neither; the development improvement plan is coming from the Chief Executive and I will sign it off before it goes to Members.
- Senator S.C. Ferguson:
Would it be fair to say that the new Chief Officer and the interim Hospital Director
were dismayed by the state of affairs in the Health and Social Services Department
when they arrived?
The Deputy of Trinity :
I can say, as we know, Health and Social Services have got many problems and many issues and some of those were highlighted by the report from Verita and some of which we are tackling now. It is one step at a time and, as I have said, the management improvement plan will be before States Members by the end of the year.
- Senator S.C. Ferguson:
Supplementary, Sir? There is a concern that the KPMG report will be used to bury
the Verita report, would the Minister confirm that this will not be the case? The Deputy of Trinity :
Absolutely, they are 2 totally different reports. The report that KPMG are working with Health and Social Services is to look to the future of Health and Social Services within Jersey. As I have said many times a very important strategic overview.
- Deputy R.G. Le Hérissier:
Would the Minister confirm whether or not the Comptroller and Auditor General's report on organisational structure, which went, in a sense, well beyond that and asked a whole lot of questions about the organisation and laid out various ways to action, has been actioned to the extent that he was calling for? A report published in April 2009.
The Deputy of Trinity :
Yes, I have got the report here with me. Those recommendations are going to be put into the management improvement plan some of them are. I have not seen that plan and I know the Chief Executive has read it.
- Deputy R.G. Le Hérissier:
It is wonderful that the Chief Executive has read it but what parts of it will be implemented in a concrete sense?
The Deputy of Trinity :
I am afraid that I do not have that information and that it is going to be put in the management improvement plan.
- The Deputy of St. John :
Could the Minister give us the name of that particular report and give us the reasons why she, as the head of the Health Department, has not read that report?
The Deputy of Trinity :
I did not say I have not read it. The date of that report is 2009.
- Deputy A.E. Jeune :
It concerns me very much that the Minister, and I believe in good faith, advises the House that we are going to get things. For example, the terms of reference that I asked for last week, we were given the outlying brief for potential strategic partners, not the terms of reference. When can we have those terms of reference? They clearly presumably have been done by KPMG, who have got the rather large contract, but we do not know what is going to be behind that report and will that report be going out to public consultation?
The Deputy of Trinity :
There are a lot of different questions in there. The management improvement plan is an organisational review of the department. The report that Deputy Jeune is talking about - by KPMG - is a strategic roadmap for the future of Jersey's Health and Social Services, which is important to treat as overview as we go forward. That report, as it said there, is going to go out to full consultation at the beginning of next year.
[15:30]
- Deputy A.E. Jeune :
May we have the terms of reference?
The Deputy of Trinity :
The terms of reference were in that pack that I sent to Members last week. Deputy A.E. Jeune :
That is not correct.
The Deputy of Trinity :
I will liaise with Deputy Jeune and take it from there.