Jersey’s Health Minister has been cleared by the States behaviour watchdog after a formal complaint accused him of breaking rules on how Ministers should behave.
The complaint, made by Deputy Inna Gardiner on behalf of the Scrutiny Liaison Committee, claimed that Deputy Tom Binet had breached multiple sections of the Ministerial Code of Conduct.
It related to a decision Deputy Binet made soon after he become Health Minister to ask Deputy Sir Philip Bailhache to meet with hospital consultants and report back to him.
Deputy Binet described it as a “listening exercise”, explaining that he wanted to understand better the concerns being raised by clinicians at the hospital.
He said that he asked for help from Deputy Bailhache due to time pressures.
There was no formal agenda or terms of reference, and both deputies said they deliberately kept the process informal so consultants could speak freely.
However, shortly after carrying out this process, Deputy Bailhache took up a role on the Health Scrutiny Panel.
Deputy Gardiner argued that this blurred the lines between the roles of ministers and scrutiny, and risked undermining the proper process.
Deputy Gardiner wrote: “The Scrutiny Liaison Committee is concerned by work that has been undertaken by a States Member, who is also a member of the Health and Social Services Scrutiny Panel, acting on behalf of Deputy Tom Binet in his capacity as the Minister for Health and Social Services.
“To the best of our knowledge, this work has involved direct contact with States of Jersey employees and has allowed the member access to information which would otherwise have remained confidential within the boundaries of the Department of Health and Social Services.”
She continued: “Of particular concern to the Committee is that the States Member has been placed in a position whereby, in its opinion, they have been provided access to confidential information that should fall under the responsibility of the Minister (and his Department) and should not be shared in the context that it appears to have been.”
But, after investigating the complaint, Commissioner for Standards Dr Melissa McCullough concluded there had been no breach of the Ministerial Code of Conduct.
She wrote: “I do not believe Deputy Binet’s decision was influenced by personal biases, emotions, political motivations, or external pressures.
“The motivation for carrying out this work was, as the new Health Minister, to understand the issues facing consultants working in the hospital who were asking for him to hear them.”
Dr McCullough accepted that Deputy Binet’s approach was “unorthodox” and acknowledged that it had caused frustration among some senior hospital staff, including the Executive Team, because it bypassed the usual channels of communication and did not involve them.
She said they felt “undermined” and that the situation “ultimately caused unnecessary distraction, confusion, and mistrust”.
The Commissioner noted that the Executive Team believed they were making progress on issues and would have preferred to be involved in discussions.
“While I recognise that undermining the Executive Team was not Deputy Binet’s intention, it is possible that with greater thought and consideration, this particular outcome could have been avoided,” she said.
Dr McCullough also pointed out that involving the Executive Team in the planning of the meetings might have helped avoid these issues and produced a more constructive outcome.
“Proper planning could have facilitated greater learning if its summary findings could have been openly shared to provide valuable feedback and insights,” she said.
In closing the case, the Commissioner confirmed no further action would be taken.
