Income Support Medical Appeal Tribunal: Appointment of New Members

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A decision made 13 March 2015:

Decision Reference: MD-S-2015-0021
Decision Summary Title :	Recommendations for Appointment to the Income Support Medical Appeal Tribunal		Date of Decision Summary:	12/03/2015
Decision Summary Author:	Head of Governance		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt?	Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Written		Person Giving Oral Report:	NA
Written Report Title :	Proposition to recommend Tribunal Appointments		Date of Written Report:	12/03/2015
Written Report Author:	Head of Governance		Written Report : Public or Exempt?	Public
Subject: Income Support Medical Appeal Tribunal – Appointment of New Members
Decision(s): The Minister decided to propose the reappointment of certain persons to the Income Support Medical Appeal Tribunal.
Reason(s) for Decision: Constituted under the Income Support (Jersey) Law 2007, the Income Support Medical Appeal Tribunal hears any appeals on matters regarding the award of the Impairment component of the Income Support scheme and any other decisions made on medical grounds; the assessment of care requirements under the Home Carer’s Allowance and care level assessments under the Long Term Care (Jersey) Law 2011. Following the resignation of the Chair and a recruitment process overseen by the Jersey Appointments Commission, the Minister is recommending the appointment of an interim Chair and the appointment of two medical practitioners. The Minister is satisfied that the individuals proposed have the knowledge and experience required to undertake these roles.
Resource Implications: There are no financial or manpower implications regarding the appointment of the Tribunal Members.
Action required: Head of Governance to request the Greffier of the States to lodge the proposition and to request a States debate on the same on 14 April 2015.
Signature:		Position:
Date Signed:		Date of Decision (If different from Date Signed):

Income Support Medical Appeal Tribunal: Appointment of New Members

PROPOSITION

THE STATES are asked to decide whether they are of opinion 

to appoint, in accordance with Article 15 of the Income Support (General Provisions) (Jersey) Order 2008, further to a process overseen by the Jersey Appointments Commission, the following persons as members of the Income Support Medical Appeal Tribunal for the period stated against their name –

Advocate Charles Thacker Chair (interim period) until 30 November 2015

Dr Nicola Charles Medical Practitioner for 5 Years

Dr Brendan Kellet Medical Practitioner for 5 years

MINISTER FOR SOCIAL SECURITY

REPORT

Background

The Income Support (General Provisions) (Jersey) Order 2008 provides for the composition of the Income Support Medical Appeal Tribunal (ISMAT) and the terms of appointment of its members.

Following the resignation of the Chair and the retirement of two medical practitioners, recruitment has taken place for new members.

The ISMAT hears appeals on the award of the Impairment Component under the Income Support system and any other decisions made on medical grounds. It may also hear appeals regarding care requirements for Home Carer’s Allowance and the care assessments for Long Term Care.

The ISMAT consists of a legal chair, a medical practitioner and a lay member.

The Lay member must have experience either through their work, from having cared for someone, or because of their own situation, of the needs of someone with a disability. Panel members use this experience to interpret the information provided and consider whether a reasonable assessment has been made.

This report discusses the appointment of a legal chair and a panel of two medical practitioners.

Tribunal Chairs

The Minister is responsible for the constitution of three different Appeal panels, the Social Security Medical Appeal Tribunal (SSMAT), The Social Security Tribunal (SST) and the Income Support Medical Appeal Tribunal (ISMAT). In consultation with the Judicial Greffe, who is responsible for the convening and administration of the Tribunals, consideration is being given to developing a role of Chair across all three Tribunals to ensure consistency of process and decision-making. This would support the further development of a Tribunals Service.

Chair of the Income Support Medical Appeal Tribunal

Following the resignation of the Chair to the ISMAT, and cognisant of the changes noted above, the Minister sought the agreement of the Appointments Commission to appoint an interim Chair to the ISMAT while the role of Chair is further defined and a recruitment process is completed.

It is therefore proposed to appoint Advocate Charles Thacker as Chair to the ISMAT for an interim period. Advocate Thacker is currently the Chair of the SST and the Minister considers that the vacancy is best filled by an experienced Chair until that recruitment process takes place.

Advocate Thacker’s term of appointment to the SST expires in November 2015.

Medical Practitioners on the Income Support Medical Appeal Tribunal

The Medical Practitioners to the ISMAT must be currently licenced to practice medicine with the UK’s General Medical Council. The role of the medical practitioner is to help the Tribunal interpret and understand specific clinical information and its relevance or not in the determination.

Terms of appointment

The Income Support (General Provisions) (Jersey) Order 2008 provides that members of the Tribunal are appointed by the States on the recommendation of the Minister after consultation with the Jersey Appointments Commission.

The Minister therefore recommends the appointment of:

Advocate Charles Thacker as Chair until November 2015
Drs Charles and Kellet to the panel of Medical Practitioners for a term of five years.

The Minister is satisfied that the individuals proposed have the necessary skills and experience.

Members proposed for appointment

Chair of the Income Support Medical Appeal Tribunal:

Advocate Charles Thacker was born and raised in Jersey. He studied law at Oxford prior to being called to the Bar in the UK in 1970. He was sworn in as an Advocate of the Royal Court of Jersey in 1974 and appointed Notary Public in the same year.

Advocate Thacker is a Senior Partner in the legal practice of Viberts and specialises in probate, property law and litigation.

He was elected President of the Jersey Law Society in June 2008, his term of office ending in 2012. Advocate Thacker also served as the Chair of the Health and Safety at Work Tribunal

Advocate Thacker was appointed as Chair to the Social Security Tribunal in 2008 having been a member of the Panel since 1993: his further reappointments as Chair have been agreed with the Appointments Commission.

Medical Practitioners:

Dr Nicola Charles graduated from Guys, Kings and St Thomas’s Medical School (now known as Kings College London Medical School) in 2005.

Dr Charles undertook her foundation years training at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Woolwich, London and at the General Hospital, Jersey and completed her senior house officer training in July 2009, specializing in acute care common stem (acute medicine, emergency medicine, intensive care and anaesthetics).

Dr Charles returned to the Jersey General Hospital in August 2009 and has since been employed by the States of Jersey in the Emergency Department and became a member of the college of emergency medicine (now royal college of emergency medicine) in 2010.

Dr Brendan Kellet graduated from the University of London in 1991, having previously attained degree in Immunology from the same university.

He completed his foundation training at St Thomas’s hospital, London and the General Hospital, Jersey. After a further two years in hospital medicine, Dr Kellet completed the Vocational GP training scheme and returned to Jersey in 1995 where he practices as a GP.

Finance and Manpower

There are no financial or manpower implications regarding the appointment of the Tribunal Members.