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The company secretary of the Connaught Care Home has resigned amid concern about a recent board reshuffle.
The Board of the Connaught is appointed annually, four members were not re-appointed this year and one didn’t “return their form of willingness”.
The three who weren’t re-appointed are; Dr Nigel Roberts, Jo Jordan, and James Dent. Meanwhile, Barbara Benfield has since turned down the re-appointment to the role and the manager of the Connaught, Liz Bowskill, who is also a board member, wasn’t re-appointed after she did not sign a Willingness to Serve.
The Company Secretary – Lisa Oates - has now joined the outgoing board members by handing in her own resignation.
All five former board members have now been officially removed from the company register and it’s understood that Judy Craske – the only remaining board member – has become the charity’s resident agent (a staff member who receives all legal and official documentation).
The States of Alderney have also installed Will Pearce from the Island MedicalCentre and States member Kevin Gentle as new directors.
The States of Alderney said the decision was made to align with the incoming Integrated Health Plan, a piece of work set to reshape the way Alderney provides healthcare.
In response to growing discontent the States of Alderney have since published a statement on the situation, below is an excerpt:
“The goal of the Integrated Care Strategy is for collaboration across all services including the Connaught, the hospital, ambulance service, pharmacy and third sector therapies to provide the highest quality of care for Alderney. To play its part in that vision, the Connaught needs a strong team which we have now begun to put in place.
“Securing quality integrated health and sustainable care for the island is very important and exciting. We are moving towards this integrated model, but there are still details that need to be developed. In due course, it will be subject to full public consultation as is our intention with any major strategies or proposed future policies.
“We are aware of concerns that the Connaught is at risk of losing its charitable status. This is not the case – there is no conflict between Company Law and the Care Home’s charitable status.
“We firmly believe that by our actions in respect of the Connaught we are addressing just one part of a wider strategy to do the right thing by Alderney – to deliver a standard of care that will benefit everyone on the Island and be the envy of other jurisdictions like ours.”
As the Board finds its feet and the States continues to defend its decision to not re-appoint several prominent board members, the owner of Boardman’s Pharmacy also released a statement.
Paul Durston has responded to the debate surrounding the Integrated Care Plan and the pharmacy’s space within it.
“I have had limited discussion with Alderney Carer regarding the pharmacy moving to the Mignot Hospital,” he said on Facebook.
“I made it clear that it was not a viable proposition as far as I was concerned. I was therefore surprised to see the comment that the pharmacy services would be moving there,” he said in response to a statement in the Alderney Journal.
“Boardman’s Pharmacy is a privately owned business and I have no intention of moving the business to the Mignot Hospital in the forseeable future.”
When his concerns were put to the States of Alderney, Express was provided the following comment from a spokesperson:
“As for the pharmacy, this is a private business. The States has simply agreed to proceed towards the provision of a health and social care model, in which all parts of the overall provision collaborate and work together to provide a seamless and high-quality Care System, and report back.
“No decisions have been taken. At this stage the objective is simply to examine the pathways and governance of such a model. This will be drafted and then put to public consultation before agreeing the resulting blueprint.”
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