Care Sector Comments Hospital Bed-blocking Solutions

Following the recent comment from Interim Chief Officer Chris Bown regarding bed-blocking at the Hospital, the Jersey Care Federation (JCF) has issued the following statement:

Cheryl Kenealy, Chairperson for the JCF, commented:

‘We entirely agree with the observations made by Chris Bown this week regarding the serious challenges of bed-blocking at the Hospital, and in particular, his comments around the need to engage with the Care Sector to find solutions. Our views on this matter have been clear and articulated to ministers repeatedly for some time – we can significantly help the situation, but we need funding.

Specifically, we need both ongoing and retrospective funding for overseas carer recruitment. I am extremely proud that JCF Members have successfully brought over 50 new carers to Jersey over the last year without any support, despite enormous costs in both time and money. But we estimate that we need around 50 more for the island to have appropriate levels of skilled carers in the island. Our sector simply can't continue to absorb the entire cost of this essential work alone or pass any more costs onto our vulnerable clients. We know how to recruit the right people, and we have proven we are good at it – so please provide us with funding so that we can get on with it and, in turn, support the hospital. We understand that there is a project underway at the moment to consider this, but we are unclear as to what the outcome will be and when.

In addition, the JCF has contributed literally thousands of free hours to over 70 different Government steering groups during the last few years, again with no funding. We are told repeatedly that, in Chris Bown’s own words, ‘investment’ in our sector is vital, but we have not received any support, unlike many other sectors, for example, the recent £300k grant to support Fishing. There are several simple, effective initiatives that the JCF could undertake that would make things easier for providers and open up capacity for community care, but we have no more free resources to give. We proved how quickly and efficiently we could mobilise as an industry body during COVID, and we are frustrated that we are not being enabled to do more at a time when Jersey so urgently needs solutions that work.

Despite all of these pressures, we are still trying to help. Several extremely experienced and highly qualified JCF Members are taking time out from their own businesses to develop a From Hospital Admission Policy for both Homecare and Care Homes, as the current Hospital Discharge Policy is not clear and not working. We will be publishing this soon as we continue to do our best to support our sector and our community.’