Hospital Inspections (FOI)

Request

A

Can you please tell me when the General Hospital, Overdale Hospital and St Saviour's Hospital were last inspected please?

For clarity, I am not interested in partial inspections of some departments, I am talking about the entire Hospital.

B

Could you please tell me who exactly carried out that last inspection?

C

Could you please point me to the regulatory body which gives that entity the authority to carry out such inspections?

D

Could you please tell me where the public can view the report from that inspection and the certificate awarded?

E

Could you please tell me who suggested the timetable which does not acknowledge the necessary change in the law to protect islanders, both patients and HCS staff? Someone came up with 2025. Who was that? Names please.

F

Can you please tell me which insurance company supplies insurance cover to HCS and where that certificate is displayed please?

G

I am aware that one of the inspectors for the Jersey Care Commission is Becky Sherrington who was until recently assoc chief nurse with HCS. According to her LinkedIn profile, she is still employed by HCS.

Response

A

There has not been a full inspection of all departments or services in the three locations specified (i.e.: General Hospital, Overdale and St Saviours). There has, however, been inspections and audits of some of the departments or services delivered in those locations, for example:

• UKAS inspection the hospital’s pathology and radiology services
  
• Self-audit of hospital pharmacy services against NHS pharmacy departments
• Jersey Nursing Assessment and Accreditation System (JNAAS) – an assessment tool used to measure 14 core standards of care (for example, patient safety, infection control etc). JNAAS is adopted from the Nursing Assessment and Accreditation System (NAAS) work undertaken at Salford NHS trust incorporating the Care Quality Commission (CQC) standards and Key Lines of Enquiry (KLOE), Nursing & Midwifery Council “6 C’s “care, courage, commitment, communication, compassion, and competence.

B

As above, there has not been a full inspection of all departments or services delivered in those locations.

C

As it stands at the moment there is no regulatory body in Jersey with the statutory power to undertake inspections of the General Hospital, Overdale or St Saviours. A regulatory body would need to be invited by the Minister and any inspection would be a voluntary inspection.

D

As above, there has not been a full inspection of all departments or services delivered in those locations.

E

It is assumed that this question relates to information provided to the Assembly by the Health and Social Services Minister on 8 February 2022 in response to a question asked by Senator Pallett.

As explained by the Health and Social Services Minister on 8 February there is currently no legislation in place to provide for the statutory independent inspection of hospital services in Jersey. As it currently stands the Regulation of Care (Jersey) Law 2014 only provides for Jersey Care Commission to undertake independent inspection of care homes, home care services and day care centres, although the Assembly is scheduled to debate new legislation in April 2022 which, if adopted, will extend the Care Commission’s remit so as to also include children’s social work and mental health services. 

Additional information for P.47/2022

Additional information for P.46/2022

Additional information for P.45/2022

Further to providing information to the Assembly on 8 February, the Minister consulted the Care Commission and the Council of Minister about developing the necessary legislation to extend the Commission’s remit to hospital and associated services. It is anticipated that the necessary legislative provisions will be lodged for debate by the States Assembly in 2023 allowing for the Care Commission to independently register and inspect hospital and associated services from 2024 onwards. This information is set out in the response the Minister recently provided to a petition to the States Assembly

Independent inspection of all health facilities, including community care - Petitions (gov.je)

The 2024 ‘start’ date was a date agreed by the Minister (Deputy Richard Renouf) in consultation with government officials and Chair of the Care Commission (Glenn Houston). Obviously, however, it is for the Assembly to determine if, and when, the hospital should be regulated. This will include the Assembly agreeing the legislation when it is presented to them in 2023 and the associated budget.

F

The Government of Jersey does not use a single insurer. We have different insurers for different purposes.  We directly insure junior and middle grade doctors, locums, nurses, midwives, occupational therapists and other such roles.  We also insure Obstetrics and Gynaecology consultants but no other medical consultants who procure their own insurance via their Medical Defence Organisations. We also have Employers Liability insurance as this is a legal requirement for all employers. This insurance is provided by the Insurance Corporation of the Channel Islands. A register of where insurance certificates

are displayed is not kept by Health and Community Services, and as such, this information is not held. Article 3 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 has, therefore, been applied 

G

Becky Sherrington is no longer in the employ of Health and Community Services.

Article Applied

Article 3 - Meaning of “information held by a public authority”

For the purposes of this Law, information is held by a public authority if –

(a)     it is held by the authority, otherwise than on behalf of another person; or

(b)     it is held by another person on behalf of the authority.