Select a region
The board charged with pushing up the standard of care for the benefit of islanders will meet community groups and hear patient stories as part of a drive to reach more service users.
Tom Hayhoe, who was appointed as Chair of the Health and Community Services Advisory Board at the end of February, said he was keen to hear from any patient groups who would like to host senior leaders in the service for an afternoon or an evening.
The HCS Advisory board, which is mandated by its terms of reference to meet monthly, has so far held its meetings on a weekday, lasting around three to four hours.
Health leaders present papers providing updates on their departments to the board and the public.
Recurring topics include waiting lists, the department's finances, complaints, HR plans, and culture change.
However, the weekday meetings makes the board inaccessible for many, both because of its timing and because those involved use technical, specialised language.
Pictured: Tom Hayhoe was appointed as chair of the HCS Advisory Board at the end of February.
Under Mr Hayhoe's new plans, a panel of around five board members will visit a community group the day before the board meeting to get input from a more diverse audience.
"We want to reach a different demographic each time," the board's Chair said.
The aim is to be more transparent with islanders and also get feedback "on the things that really matter to them".
Mr Hayhoe said he used a similar system when he chaired the West London NHS Trust and the West Middlesex University Hospital.
The West London NHS Trust managed the high-security Broadmoor Hospital – and a visit to Broadmoor was particularly important, he said.
Mr Hayhoe said he was hoping to speak to a variety of community groups and local charities, and called for interested parties to get in touch.
Before each meeting, Mr Hayhoe said, the board will invite in a patient, service user or carer to talk about their experience of Jersey's Health Department.
He said that in previous similar roles, boards had heard patient "horror stories".
"We wanted to know and share what the experience is like when something goes wrong," said Mr Hayhoe.
"We wanted to really understand what it feels like when something goes wrong."
But he also pointed to positive results in a recent survey of Jersey patients, which he said he was "blown away" by, explaining: "We sometimes forget that most people have good experiences."
Mr Hayhoe added: "It's about understanding what it's like being a patient for our services."
Mr Hayhoe encouraged any community groups or charities that would be interested in hosting the board to contact its secretary at e.oconnorprice@health.gov.je.
Comments
Comments on this story express the views of the commentator only, not Bailiwick Publishing. We are unable to guarantee the accuracy of any of those comments.