14 June 2018
Chief Executive, Charlie Parker, has outlined changes to his plans for restructuring the States of Jersey, following a 45-day consultation with senior leaders and a 90-day consultation with all staff. Mr Parker reviewed around 240 suggestions and questions, and made a number of changes to the plans announced in March.
The overall structure is largely unchanged, and the focus remains on collaborative working, eliminating silos and improving services, effectiveness and value for money. But there will now be 40 posts at the two most senior levels – a reduction of 26 from the current structure.
Of these, 21 have been appointed by either a direct match or ring-fenced internal recruitment, and 19 will be filled through open competition. The recruitment process for these roles is already underway and is expected to be completed in September 2018.
A number of common themes emerged from the feedback, including the way in which teams have been organised and the practicalities of the proposed structure.
Changes to the structure include:
- a Group Medical Director will provide a clinical voice at senior level in Health and Community Services
- the Chief Nurse will concentrate on being professional lead for nursing across the island, to promote high standards, and the Chief Executive is proposing that this becomes a statutory island post
- a new post of Group Managing Director Hospital and Community will bring together the General Hospital and Adult Services under one leader, to improve patient experience
- a new Director of Finance Hub will support finance transformation
- debt collection will be centralised and will sit in Treasury
- the Health and Safety Inspectorate will move to Justice and Home Affairs. This is to recognise the public protection role of this team and the need to work with the preventive team within other departments
- the Probation Service will form part of the Justice and Home Affairs department
- the Growth, Housing and Island Environment department will now be named “Growth, Housing and Environment”, acknowledging feedback that the word ‘island’ implies an emphasis on land and built environment, while the remit is much wider and includes marine and other environmental factors
- the future Island Plan will be broader than a planning guidance document, as it will formulate a strategic plan for the whole island. It is therefore moving from Environment to the department of Strategic Policy, Performance and Population
- Children, Young People, Education and Skills will bring together all services for children into Children’s Services, including the Children and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) and children safeguarding activities. Adult Mental Health will remain with Health and Community Services
Mr Parker said “I have carefully considered all the feedback I received from staff, and the changes I have made reflect many of the very helpful suggestions they made, although not every suggestion has been adopted.
“We can now press forward with making these changes, and start moving into the new organisational structure from 18 June. The new Directors General, with their senior leaders, will now begin to design their services and structures, and we will start to ‘lift and shift’ teams into these structures. Where appropriate, we will carry out further consultation with staff as part of this process.”
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