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WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES BY DEPUTY G.P. SOUTHERN OF ST. HELIER
ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 19th JANUARY 2016
Question
What services, if any, does the Minister have under consideration for outsourcing or privatisation under the four years of the Medium Term Financial Plan?
Has the Minister read the report of the independent think tank the Centre for Health and Public Interest published in March 2015 noting that the National Health Service was struggling to monitor and assess the safety and efficacy of services it has outsourced to private providers, and if not, will he undertake to do so?
Given that a survey of Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) using freedom of information requests found that 60 percent of CCGs surveyed did not record how many site inspections they undertook, or were unable to say how many they had done and that 12% had not carried out any site inspections, what proposals, if any, does the Minister have to monitor of the safety and efficacy of any such services outsourced to private companies or agencies?
Answer
The Health and Social Services Department is always seeking to deliver services to Islanders in the most efficient and effective way possible, while prioritising the safety of patients. As one would expect, services are always under review to ensure value for money, but there are no plans at this point in time to outsource or privatise services currently provided by the Department.
The Minister is aware of the report referred to in the question and while its focus is on the NHS in England which, given its size, is organised very differently to Jersey, he is content to note its conclusions and recommendations.
As stated above, there are no plans to outsource or privatise services at this point in time. Therefore there is no current requirement to monitor the safety and efficacy of any such services. Should this position ever change then of course required standards of quality and safety would be encompassed in contractual arrangements.