THE former chair of Jersey’s Health Advisory Board – who stepped down earlier this year after just five weeks in post – has been appointed as the UK government’s new Covid corruption commissioner.
In the newly-created role, Tom Hayhoe will spearhead Labour’s efforts to recover public money lost to fraud, error and underperforming contracts during the pandemic.
He will take on the part-time job for one year, and his first task will be reviewing the £8.7 billion worth of PPE bought during the pandemic that then had to be written off by the UK government. He will report to Chancellor Rachel Reeves.
Mr Hayhoe was appointed as the first substantive chair of Jersey’s Health Advisory Board in February, and was tasked with overseeing improvements in the department.
He brought with him more than 35 years’ experience in health leadership, including time as chair of West London NHS Trust and West Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust.
But after only five weeks he stepped down from the role in “mutual agreement” with Health Minister Tom Binet due to “differences in working styles”.
Following his departure, Mr Hayhoe commented that he was “disappointed not to be able to continue the work that I had started with the team at HCS, looking to improve the culture, raise staff morale and address the very big concerns around patient safety and the care that is delivered on the Island”.
“I am worried about the level of staff morale in the organisation and I am also concerned about the needs to recover confidence in the medical services on the Island and consistently delivering safe, quality care,” he added.
