Sacked surgeon row sparks confidence vote in Chief Minister

Wednesday 14 December 2016

The row over the sacking of an eye surgeon boiled over in the States this week, with one Deputy promising to bring a vote of no confidence in the States Employment Board (SEB), which is led by the Chief Minister.

It follows the publication of a scathing report by the States Complaints Board (SCB) which said the SEB were guilty of “flawed and deeply unsatisfactory” actions, following the decision to sack Dr Amar Alwitry. It called for the SEB and senior politicians to be censured for their actions, and says this was, “...one of the worst examples of a public authority disregarding fundamental principles of fairness and law that this board has seen.”

Dr Alwitry had hoped to return to Jersey after a career in the UK, but a job offer was withdrawn after he questioned certain work practices at the General Hospital. He was supposed to start in December 2012, but a week before he was told by the SEB that his contract had been terminated.

The glaucoma specialist said he was told by senior staff to “put up or shut up” when he criticised the level of weekend medical cover. 

In the States today, the Chief Minister, Senator Ian Gorst, who chairs the SEB, faced a barrage of questions on the Alwitry case, with Deputy Mike Higgins promising to take the issue all the way to a vote of no confidence in the SEB:

"This matter is going to go further, because I give notice to the Chief Minister of bringing a vote of no cofidence in the SEB, which includes the Chief Minister and the Minister of Health, and their officers. If anyone is dismissed they should have due process. Will the Chief Minister agree it was totally defective, the process of the dismissal?"

Senator Gorst accepted that improvements to employment processes had been made in the light of the Alwitry case, but not that there should be sanctions against of those involved. 

"There were improvements which could have been made in that case, and those improvements have now been made at the policy level and will affect the recruitment of all consultants. There were things which could have been improved and that was around the process of signing a contract, and saying that contract was not appropriate, we have been quite clear about that, and we have now put in place policies to ensure those situations cannot arise again.

"We believe that the right decision was made, there were some difficulties along the way of reaching that decision, the SEB have been quite clear about that...but... ultimately the right decision was made. I'm not sure that the SCB have opined upon the merits of the decision or not, they have simply talked about some of the flaws that they have felt in the process, and of which the SEB have accepted."

Senator Gorst was unable to give a figure for the costs of the case to date, but warned since it was a legal matter, those costs would go up.

He committed to publishing a list of the improvements to States employment processes which had been made.