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WQ.480/2023
WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE CHIEF MINISTER
BY THE CONNÉTABLE OF ST. MARTIN QUESTION SUBMITTED ON MONDAY 4th DECEMBER 2023 ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON MONDAY 11th DECEMBER 2023
Question
“Will the Chief Minister provide details of the opportunities for joint working with Guernsey that the recently appointed Assistant Minister for Health and Social Services will explore, including those relating to –
- the Public Health Alliance launched in March 2023;
- the Public Health discussions held with Deputy Ferbrache at the British-Irish Council Summit in June 2023;
- remit of the Minister for External Relations;
- the Government of Jersey’s New Healthcare Facilities Programme; and
and will she further advise whether the Government of Jersey and the States of Guernsey intend to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding regarding joint working on healthcare matters, to be presented to both Island Assemblies?”
Answer
Since July 2022, the Jersey Public Health function has been working much more closely with our colleagues in Guernsey. This working relationship was formalised by launching the Public Health Alliance in March 2023. Cross-Island meetings are held twice a year with informal contact in between meetings. The purpose of the Alliance is to promote effective working on public health matters between public health teams in the Channel Islands to improve islanders’ health outcomes.
The new Assistant Minister for Health and Social Services will support the continued development of this work, as well as potential new and extended areas of cooperation with Guernsey, including around the delivery of services, collective contracting for services, recruitment, and governance frameworks. To this end, the Assistant Minister will support the Minister in working with the relevant Committees and colleagues in Guernsey.
This can build on the work of the Minister for Health and Social Services, and the discussions at the British- Irish Council, which showed a keenness from both Islands to work together.
The experience of Deputy Ozouf as Minister for External Relations, and the relationship that the External Relations Ministry has built, will assist in this.
At this time, the delegations to the new Assistant Minister do not include the new healthcare facilities.
This joint working is especially important as health services become more complex and more technologically driven, and as demands rise as our populations age. It is the Minister’s intention to formally establish a joint working group between officers on health and social care matters with Guernsey. A Memorandum of Understanding setting out principles of collaboration in respect of health and care matters, agreed in 2018, is already in place.