A review by the Health and Social Scrutiny Panel will seek to examine if issues such as a lack of affordable nursing accommodation are proving to be a barrier in recruiting new staff.
Deputy Richard Renouf, chairman of the panel, said that investigating the recruitment and retention of staff was a matter of importance as pressures on the Health Department are due to increase as a result of Jersey’s ageing population.
He added that there were plans to increase the Health Service by 185 staff members between 2016 and 2019. This increase comes despite intentions to reduce the number of posts across the States after it emerged in April that there would be a £125 million deficit by 2019 if planned spending was carried out and no money-saving counter measures were introduced.
Deputy Renouf said it would be a challenge to recruit the additional workers as well as retain the current staff.
Among the questions the panel will examine is whether Jersey has a problem in attracting medical staff to the Island.
Deputy Renouf said: ‘The panel wondered if the practicalities are in place to recruit all these people, because we hear about the difficulty of recruiting in Jersey. The salary of nurses in Jersey is roughly the same as in the UK. Costs may be greater in Jersey in terms of renting, and if people have partners, they need to relocate too and find a job.
‘Sometimes things seem to act as barriers, or so we hear, so we wanted to investigate and to see if these things are being managed.’
Deputy Renouf added that the panel would also look at whether enough was being done to train and retain nurses locally.
A public consultation held by the Health Department in 2011 found that Islanders were concerned about the ability to recruit the large numbers of nursing staff which would be required to provide new services in the future.
Deputy Renouf said: ‘We want to examine what improvements have been made, what initiatives are being trialled to improve the skill set within the Hospital and examine the “Jersey factors” which result in a difficulty to recruit and retain.’
The panel will take evidence from a number of witnesses including the Health Minister as it prepares its report.
The Deputy said that the panel hope to report its findings in the autumn.
