THE government did not intend to “affect the professional reputation” of a senior Health consultant in statements that were made following his departure, the Chief Minister has said.
In the letter addressed to Professor Simon Mackenzie which was this week made public, Deputy Lyndon Farnham expressed his “regret” for “any concern” caused.
Deputy Farnham wrote: “The government has confidence in your professional integrity, and while there may have been some misunderstandings, there has been no intention to issue incorrect statements or affect your professional reputation.”
Prof Mackenzie, who was part of a five-person “change team” set up in January 2023 after a damning report revealed concerns about management and working culture in the Health Department, confirmed his resignation in May 2024.
In a statement released at the time of Prof Mackenzie’s departure, Health Minister Tom Binet suggested that the professor had “used his resignation letter to claim he was not being personally supported”.
Deputy Binet added: “This is not an accurate reflection of the facts.”
But in his letter to Prof Mackenzie this week, Deputy Farnham wrote: “At the time of your departure, I can confirm that you did not claim to be unsupported and did not mischaracterise your position.”
In a Scrutiny hearing held two months after his departure, Prof Mackenzie delivered a damning post-mortem of his experience of working in Jersey’s Health Department and criticised the standard of care.
He described the Island’s health service as being in need of “fundamental change”.
“If people don’t believe there is a problem to be fixed, then they won’t fix it,” he said in July.
The consultant also criticised the standard of healthcare in Jersey as “generally lower than the standard I would expect to see in a similarly-sized hospital”.
“I have told both Health Ministers that, knowing what I know, if I were a Jersey resident I would choose to have my healthcare elsewhere,” he stated.
