Scrutiny hears from former health officials with shared concerns on Jersey’s healthcare service

12th July 2024

The Health and Social Security (HSS) Scrutiny Panel has held three public hearings with former senior officials of Jersey's Health and Community Services Department (HCS).

The aim of the hearings was to listen to their experiences and note any 'lessons learnt' that could be used to improve Jersey's healthcare service.

The three witnesses were: Professor Simon Mackenzie (former Clinical Lead of the HCS Change Team), Tom Hayhoe (former Chair of the HCS Advisory Board), and Professor Hugo Mascie-Taylor (former interim Chair of the HCS Advisory Board).

Clear themes emerged from the three hearings, and the Panel is hoping that these will now be used to inform active debate about Jersey's healthcare services.

The primary concern is that patient safety and the quality of care provided is not viewed by all three witnesses as being up to standard. The Panel noted that it was striking that both Professor Mackenzie and Mr Hayhoe stated that given a choice, they would prefer to be treated off island, such was their level of concern. Entrenched attitudes and a system which perpetuates a resistance to change and improvement, were given as some of the main causes, coupled with Jersey's geographical size which limits clinical options.

Deputy Jonathan Renouf, Vice-Chair of the HSS Scrutiny Panel, said: 'There are clearly major and urgent issues which we must deal with, but I stress "we" as an Island and community. We need to recognise the challenges and work together with a clear vision of how to improve the situation. As a Panel, we welcome a transparent and open discussion on this matter and we will be giving further consideration to the information gathered in order for Scrutiny to play its role in helping to progress the change required.'

The Panel heard:

The situation within Jersey's healthcare services is serious with a shared view, among the witnesses, that the quality of healthcare is not up to standard.
The main challenge is entrenched attitudes preventing change and not recognising that it is needed. This will need effective and consistent management to counteract, which is not currently the case.
Jersey's geographical isolation requires that more specialised services are provided from the UK in order that patients benefit from the best specialist care, due to the lower volume of need.
Jersey should partner with a UK medical centre to not only share their specialists, but to enable all consultants and doctors to be able to benefit from a peer network that can provide continual professional development through an exchange programme.
There needs to be a culture which accepts benchmarking along with the need to keep learning, and a high-quality appraisal system. The 'assertive individualism' that results in some consultants not believing they need to do the things that are done elsewhere since the 1980s, must change. This also resulted in senior politicians intervening on behalf of individuals and vetoing change.

You can watch a recording of the hearings: https://bit.ly/3A1J2ao or on our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/4eToghZ

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