A FORMER chief officer at the Health Department is returning in an advisory role, five years after leaving her position with a £187,000 “golden handshake” pay-off.
Julie Garbutt has been appointed as a non-executive director for the Health and Community Services Advisory Board, which was set up to improve standards of care.
Health Minister Karen Wilson has welcomed the “experience and expertise” that she said the new recruit brought.
Mrs Garbutt was in charge at Health for just over eight years, leaving her role in July 2018 following a shake-up to the upper echelons of the civil service instigated by former States chief executive Charlie Parker. In an email to colleagues in June 2018, Mrs Garbutt said she had decided not to apply for a new director-general role under Mr Parker’s new government structure, opting instead to retire on her 60th birthday and helping to care for her parents in the UK.
Government accounts published in 2019 showed that Mrs Garbutt received a “contractual entitlement” of £93,820 following her departure, plus a further payment for the same amount in lieu of notice. The 2018 accounts showed she had amassed a pension pot of over £2.1 million.
The Health and Community Services Advisory Board, which was set up earlier this year following a decision by the States Assembly, held its inaugural meeting last month and appointed Professor Hugo Mascie-Taylor as chair.
Prof Mascie-Taylor is the author of a damning £85,000 report published last year, which alleged that a “Jersey Way” in Health threatened patient safety and that an updated health board with new leadership was required.
As chair of the newly formed board, he is expected to be paid around £225,000 a year for his three-days-a-week role.
The board is responsible for improving standards of care delivered by the department, as well as initiatives including preparing the department for inspection by the Jersey Care Commission, developing a robust governance framework and cultivating a positive and inclusive culture.
Deputy Wilson said: “Julie’s experience and expertise will be a welcome addition to the non-executive team and, together as a board, they will shape the way we enhance the quality of care delivered to Islanders.”
Since leaving her role at the Health Department, Mrs Garbutt has served as chief executive of Methodist Homes for the Aged and as a non-executive director of Citizens Advice Jersey. In total she has amassed 38 years’ experience in the health sector.
The JEP has asked the government how much Mrs Garbutt will be paid for her new role.
