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Little progress has been made on recruiting a new Chief Nurse - a role that has professional responsibility for local nursing and midwifery - due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
HSC revealed earlier this summer that it was yet to decide whether to replace its Chief Nurse of five years, Professor Juliet Beal, who resigned for health reasons in April.
A review into the role is yet to be completed, with HSC citing the need to focus on tackling the threats posed by Covid-19.
In the meantime, different areas of the Chief Nurse role have been absorbed by other senior staff members, including Medical Director Dr Peter Rabey.
Pictured: Dr Peter Rabey has temporarily been given oversight of the governance aspects of the Chief Nurse role.
"Since the previous Chief Nurse stepped down in April, leadership of the Chief Nurse’s portfolio has been provided by senior and experienced colleagues across HSC," said a spokesperson.
"With the Medical Director temporarily assuming responsibility for the management of Governance and the Director of Hospital and Adult Community Care Services, who trained as a nurse and undertook an extensive clinical career before moving into senior management, acting as the senior and single point of contact in respect of nursing across the Bailiwick.
"This has allowed clear and consistent leadership to be provided and was agreed in dialogue with the RCN before it was implemented for this interim period."
Pictured: Professor Juliet Beal stood down in April for health reasons.
The spokesperson said the recruitment of a new Chief Nurse had to be carefully reviewed, which they said is "standard practice" for senior public sector appointments.
"The Chief Nurse role incorporates professional responsibility for nurses, midwives and allied health professionals across the Bailiwick. As such, recruitment to the post needs to be carefully considered to ensure that the post continues to best reflect the needs of both the organisation and the Bailiwick.
"Given the need to continue to focus on Covid-19, and the operational resilience currently in place in respect of the duties previously undertaken by the Chief Nurse, this review has not yet been completed. Once it has, HSC will work closely with the RCN before taking steps to recruit."
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