From Roy Travert.
I AM sure that I am not alone when saying that the recent appointment of the Hospital’s new managing director, Andrew McLaughlin, is not only a disgraceful misappropriation of taxpayers money but an insult to the hard working people of Jersey. I fundamentally disagree with this outrageous appointment.

In the lead up to the now implemented tax increases Senator Ozouf and Jersey’s Chief Minister made the statement that they were committed to making savings to the public purse and balancing the books. They then embarked on the biggest tax hikes in living memory. To now see this new windfall of taxpayers’ money spent on senior civil servants’ pay in excess of £18,000 a month (the previous stated figure was £26,000) is as unsavoury as it is questionable.

The Hospital was one of the only things in Jersey that we could hold our heads up and say that we were proud of. With the débâcle of the swine flue pandemic that never was, and the millions that were spent on vaccine that was never used, the implementation of a new report on ways to save money (over £700,000) and this new appointment to the tune of £216,000 a year (previous stated figure was £312,000) – no wonder the public have lost all faith in our political system and its politicians. They are simply incapable of doing a decent job, while squandering millions of public funds. This is clearly evident in the botched figures used in this new appointment.

This is the most questionable of public appointments. How did this happen? Who gave the final word that this contract was acceptable? And who signed it off? These questions need to be answered and that person held to account by the States of Jersey. This appointment once again calls into question the whole senior civil service pay structure and how this is paid for with taxpayers’ money.

How the States can justify paying someone our money at £18,000 a month and see no return for this expenditure is incredible. There was public outcry when the banks started paying bonuses to staff after the credit crunch. Rightly or wrongly they, however, were committed to making a profit for the employer. This appointment has no financial basis with which to do this. No profit for Jersey plc is being made. The public are paying for this scandal with increased taxes and poor performance from the people its political representatives employ.

Our chemotherapy department is effectively shutting down. We have massive waiting lists for routine operations and staff that simply cannot cope with the workload. We have seen front-line nurses lose their jobs and yet they continue to justify these senior non-jobs. This money should be used to employ nurses on the front line of public service, with the multi-layer of management reduced within the hospital infrastructure, freeing up funds where they are needed most.

The JEP ran an article which included what the money could have bought instead of it being spent on one man. We could have had another 14 staff nurses on the front line where they are needed most. This has got to be the logical use of this money. It is such a serious matter that I feel Andrew McLaughlin’s contract should be revoked and Anne Pryke, head of Health, should resign with immediate effect. They have both proved that they are incapable of doing their respective jobs and I hope that the States will take a very serious view of this matter with the urgency it deserves.