Concerns raised about breadth of mental-health director’s new dual role

Unions and charity leaders have raised concerns about the decision to hand the island’s mental-health boss a fresh role to run in parallel with his current position.

Health and Care Jersey confirmed last week that mental-health director Andy Weir had also been appointed managing director for health and care services.

The expanded role will see Mr Weir handed new powers across the island’s entire health service – despite already leading one of the department’s most pressured portfolios.

In the newly created operational role, Mr Weir will oversee day-to-day leadership across the entire hospital, ambulance service, mental health, community services and social care.

The appointment took effect on 1 May, but was only made public nearly two weeks later after queries from Express.

A spokesperson for Health and Care Jersey confirmed that Mr Weir “will continue to hold Executive Director responsibility for Mental Health, Social Care and Community Services alongside the additional responsibilities”.

Dementia Jersey chief executive Claudine Snape expressed concern about the “breadth of his new role”.

She told Express: “Whilst we welcome the commitment to Andy retaining his existing responsibilities, we do have some concern about the breadth of his new role – particularly given the need for focused leadership to drive forward planning service improvements for people with dementia.

“We would welcome reassurance that there is sufficient support in place to enable him to have a positive impact across the whole health portfolio.

“We look forward to continuing to work in partnership with Andy and his team to achieve the best outcomes for people with dementia and their families.”

Jersey Civil Service Association union representative Christopher Hopkins echoed Ms Snape’s hesitancy.

“I would question why two significant positions are being put onto one person,” he said.

“I have nothing against Andy Weir’s promotion, if that is what it is, but any person taking on two senior roles would concern us.”

James Turner, speaking on behalf of Unite the Union, asked how two roles previously carried out by separate full-time employees could now be covered by a single full-time equivalent post – adding that the move would presumably also save the employer money on salaries.

“Unite would be concerned that if the service were to suffer in such circumstances,” he added.

“We are not the employer, and they can manage their business as they see fit, [but] of course we wouldn’t want to see a decline in either service, nor indeed see Andy [Weir] suffer from the additional workload he has taken on.”

We wouldn’t want to see a decline in either service, nor indeed see Andy [Weir] suffer from the additional workload he has taken on

James turner, unite the union

In a statement, Mr Weir said he was “delighted” to take on the new role, having worked here in my current role for over four years.

“I particularly look forward to working alongside senior leadership team colleagues to further strengthen our care group governance, quality improvement approaches and learning from incidents,” he said.

Mr Weir added that, as managing director, he would be involved in “maintaining a focus on achieving financial balance” and “working with all colleagues to enhance patient, carer and staff involvement in further developing our health, social care and ambulance services”.