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Newly posted job adverts for administrative roles within the Health service – including a 'Freedom to Speak Up Guardian' of up to £74,000-a-year – have come under fire for their large salaries in comparison to clinical roles.
A 'Rota Change Manager' is currently being advertised on the Government's website for an annual salary of up to £67,874.
The ideal candidate is described as an "expert at scheduling" who can support the Health department on its "digital journey with e-rostering and managing the clinical risk of staffing ensuring optimal levels of medical staffing on each shift".
Consultant Cardiologist Dr Andrew Mitchell took to social media to slam the Rota Change Manager salary as "another example of where pay structures are so wrong for medical staff morale, retention and recruitment".
Dr Mitchell criticised the renumeration for being over one-and-a-half times the salary of junior doctors, who he said "have more responsibility and risk".
Several commenters replied to say that the job advert and salary were "insulting" to junior doctors.
Another example of where pay structures are so wrong for medical staff morale, retention and recruitment. A rota change manager being offered over 1.5 times the salary of the Junior Doctors who have more responsibility and risk https://t.co/JyPI3n79R2 #payrestoration pic.twitter.com/p2JFYU9uai
— Dr Andrew Mitchell (@mitcharj) December 6, 2023
Dr Moyra Journeaux, a registered nurse and postgraduate programme manager at the General Hospital’s Harvey Besterman Education Centre, branded the job advert as "atrocious".
She added: "It needs to be addressed. How is this allowed to happen? People do not realise that junior doctors with 5+ years at university and 2 years foundation programme are among the lowest paid healthcare workers."
The Health and Community Services Department said that the role of rota change manager has been "created and appropriately evaluated".
They added that it is not comparable to the NHS position of rota co-ordinator.
Responding to criticism about the comparably low pay of junior doctors, HCS said that their pay is set by the NHS whilst they work in the department and they are then also paid a Jersey supplement.
As well as the Rota Change Manger, two other roles have gained similar social media attention – a 'Freedom to Speak Up Guardian' for the Health department, and a 'Head of Compliance and Regulation' for the States of Jersey Ambulance Service.
Both are being advertised for a salary of up to £74,599 per year.
Dominic Jones, CEO of JP Restaurants, reposted the job advert asking: "I don’t understand how a Head of Compliance and Regulation at Ambulance Service earns £74,599 and a junior doctor/clinical fellow in cardiology with minimum 7 or 8 years training currently advertised by [the Government] earns £37,000?"
I don’t understand how a Head of Compliance and Regulation at Ambulance Service earns
— Dominic Jones (@DominicCJones) December 8, 2023
£74,599 and a junior /doctor clinical fellow in cardiology with minimum 7 or 8 years training currently advertised by @GovJersey earns £37,000 @mitcharj ? https://t.co/ZLqTBwo2vR
Meanwhile, the Freedom to Speak Up Guardian is described as "key" in ensuring that Health staff "are actively encouraged, supported and enabled to speak up, helping them feel psychologically safe to do".
The successful candidate will "to help the organisation become a more open and transparent place to work, enabling a positive culture of ‘speaking up’".
Pictured: Chris Bown was appointed as Interim Chief Officer of Health following the shock departure of Caroline Landon.
Earlier this year, it emerged that Health's annual bill for managers now stands at £10.1m, having shot up by more than £3.5m since 2019.
The top-level staff spending was revealed in a response to a request under the Freedom of Information Law in March which showed that “management staffing” within HCS accounted for nearly 6% of the Department’s annual budget.
Reacting to the management spending figures, Brigadier Bruce Willing of the Friends of Our New Hospital Group, described the amount of money being spend on management in HCS as “ludicrous”.
CLICK TO ENLARGE: HCS management staffing budget, 2019-2023.
“The whole management system is constipated,” said Mr Willing. “They’re like hamsters spinning in their wheels.”
He also claimed that the “ridiculous” number of managers “causes real difficulties on the ward floor”, sharing concerns that frontline healthcare staff often have to spend more time doing paperwork than dealing with patients.
"It gets in the way of everything," he said.
However, in October, the Health Department's Chief Officer published a report claiming that too little management is “a significant barrier” to turning around the Health and Community Services Department.
Chris Bown said that current management staffing in Health is "less than you would expect to see in the delivery of a major healthcare transformation programme".
The whole department, which was last year "read the Riot Act" by the Treasury Minister for its continual overspends, is currently undergoing a finance transformation plan to bring it back in budget.
The challenge in the years ahead totals around £35m. According to the financial lead in the 'Change Team' parachuted to rescue the department, Obi Hasan, managing workforce spending is going to be a key focus – alongside boosting productivity to finding ways to generate more income.
INSIGHT: How do you solve Health's "£35 million problem"?
Health leaders “read the Riot Act” over budget overspends
Too many managers in Health? No, says report...by Health
Bill for "constipated" Health management rises to £10m
ANALYSIS: As the next budget looms... What should we expect?
FOCUS: £234m for a project yet to lay a foundation stone...and may take 12 more years?
How should healthcare be funded in future?
FOCUS: The sickness in the Health Department
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