Saturday 12 September 2015
The Policy & Finance Committee of the States of Alderney and the Policy Council of the States Guernsey have commissioned the Good Governance Institute (GGI) to undertake the independent review into the decision-making processes and actions that preceded the referral by the Health and Social Services Department (HSSD) of Dr Rory Lyons to the General Medical Council (GMC) and to Guernsey Police. GGI reviewers will begin work on Monday 14 September and the report will be published before the end of 2015.
Neil Harvey, Chairman of Policy & Finance said:
"I am pleased that we have been able to move quickly with the Policy Council to put independent reviewers in place, and to set out clear terms of reference. I hope that all parties connected with the decision-making process will offer their full support to the reviewers, as a thorough review is in the public interest in Alderney and in Guernsey."
Deputy Jonathan Le Tocq, Chief Minister said:
"The Policy Council and Policy & Finance Committee have worked effectively to put this review in place appropriately and expeditiously. It should be remembered that this is a review of governance and decision-making processes, and the terms of reference make that clear. Like Neil, I trust that all who can inform the reviewers' work will participate fully in the review."
The reviewers will be:
Mark Butler - a former NHS Chief Executive and a highly experienced investigator, including having recently led a major whistleblowing investigation for GGI and the Trust Development Authority in Southport and Ormskirk Hospitals that recently concluded. Mark is highly regarded in the field of executive governance and decision-making and supports this with further executive experience in education and social care. Mark would lead the team
Peter Molyneux - an experienced NHS Chair, and has worked with GGI over a number of years on governance reviews. Peter has served on Boards in the public, private and voluntary sectors and has extensive experience in decision-making and executive engagement. Peter has managed projects covering reputation management, governance, integration and partnerships for the Department of Health, the Homes and Communities Agency, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, the Shaw Trust and the National Housing Federation. He has delivered Board Development
Terms of reference
The independent review on behalf of the Policy & Finance Committee of the States of Alderney and the Policy Council of the States of Guernsey is to:
1. Identify and describe a detailed chronology of events from the time that concerns were first raised about Dr Lyons' practice to his suspension and to the initiation of the police investigation. This will include:
1.1 The complaints made,
1.2 Who made the complaints and with whom were they raised and then escalated, including the Board, senior and executive management of HSSD,
1.3 HSSD's investigation of these concerns, internally and externally, including the use of specialist advice, within the established processes,
1.4 The actions taken by HSSD to safeguard patients and prevent harm, including the timeliness of such actions and the measures taken,
1.5 The extent to which the above was properly recorded and communicated, both internally and externally (as appropriate at the time).
2. To provide an independent assessment of the processes used to investigate concerns that were raised and the action taken to address those concerns, identifying both good practice and any areas for improvement.
3. To specifically review the HSSD's actions and governance procedures in response to, and any subsequent actions taken following receipt of pertinent reports/complaints.
4. To evaluate the effectiveness of the HSSD's systems for ensuring the safety of patients, for clinical governance and for responding to staff raising concerns, throughout this period, specifically and only in relation to Dr Lyons' practice.
5. To identify and evaluate the steps taken by the HSSD to ensure that relevant external agencies/bodes were alerted to the concerns raised concerning investigations related to Dr Lyons, as appropriate.
6. In respect of all above aspects of the scope of the review, to:
6.1 Deliver a set of findings based on evidence obtained during the review;
6.2 Make recommendations for any improvements and/or actions required in HSSD's arrangements or other lessons to be learned arising from management of the clinical concerns raised regarding Dr. Lyons.
Contact information
Interested parties are advised that the reviewers can be contacted through: IndependentReview@gov.gg
