Timescale for introducing regulation of the Islands Health Service

WQ.150/2025

WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT

BY DEPUTY K.M. WILSON OF ST. CLEMENT

QUESTION SUBMITTED ON MONDAY 24th MARCH 2025 ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON MONDAY 31st MARCH 2025

Question

"Will the Minister outline the plans to introduce regulation of the Islands Health Service under the Regulation of Care (Jersey) Law 2014 (the Law), and set out the associated timeline, and detail –

1. any expected delays to the implementation of regulation under the Law;
2. whether any delays will be as a result of potential reprioritisation of the legislative programme referenced by the Chief Minister at the States meeting on 20th March 2025;
3. the cost of preparing for implementation of the Law to date; and
4. the cost of delays to implementing the Law?"

Answer

I remain committed to delivering legislation to regulate hospital and ambulance services as soon as practicable.

1. As set out in my answer to Written Question 401/2024, the legislation was on schedule to be lodged in the Assembly by the end of 2024, subject to consideration by the Council of Ministers. Following CoM's consideration of the draft legislation, I approved further amendments to the legislation, and it is now anticipated that these will be ready for further consideration by CoM by the end of April/early May. The legislation would be implemented in Q2 2026, should it be approved for lodging and adopted by the States Assembly in accordance with current expectations.
2. There are no delays anticipated to this project as a result of the reprioritisation exercise which the Chief Minister referenced on 20 March.
3. The States Assembly provided funding to prepare for and to deliver regulation and inspection of hospital and ambulance services under the Government Plan 2023-26. Details of the funding provided to the Jersey Care Commission, the Department for Health and Community Services (now Health and Care Jersey), Department for Justice and Home Affairs and Law Officers' Department can be found under the Government Plan 2023-26 Annex. These costs are summarised below:

However, due to a combination of deferred spending, deferred recruitment and overachievement of expected income from fees the Jersey Care Commission underspent its overall budget as follows:

• 2024 – total underspend of £217,000

• 2023 – total underspend of £338,000

Aside from these areas, it is understood that the full funding has been utilised for the purposes it was allocated for by the States Assembly.

4. Costs allocated to departments to prepare for regulation have gone towards improving the quality and safety of patient care in anticipation of being regulated. Therefore, delays to the implementation of regulation have no negative cost implications in respect of those costs, as the benefits should be felt by patients, regardless of when inspections commence. Where staff have been recruited to the Jersey Care Commission in expectation of conducting inspections sooner than the revised timetable there may be some additional costs as they could have been recruited later. However, it is not considered that additional costs have been incurred in this respect as those staff that have been recruited by the Commission are undertaking work to prepare for and to prepare services for regulation.