DEPUTY Mike Hadley has resigned from the Health and Social Services Department after only six months.
Precisely what triggered his resignation was not clear yesterday but it followed controversial comments he made and questions of concern he raised about the department.
He remained tight-lipped about the matter but Health Minister Hunter Adam offered some insight into his colleague but would not say why he had made his decision. ‘That is for him to say,’ he said.
Deputy Adam said Deputy Hadley, pictured, was a committed worker.
‘I have got a lot of time for him and my personal relationship with him has been very satisfactory,’ he said. ‘I feel Mike has worked very hard and he is very passionate about HSSD matters, as seen in articles in the Guernsey Press in recent days. He works very hard to achieve what he thinks is appropriate for the department.’
Mr Adam added the pair were friends as well as colleagues.
‘I have always had a good relationship with Mike Hadley and he has been to my house on many occasions.’
He suggested Deputy Hadley might have become ‘frustrated about slow progress’.
‘He has never ever given any sense of malicious intent towards any board members or intention of criticising staff who work for HSSD so well.’
Deputy Hadley will remain a States member but will no longer sit on the board of HSSD.
One possible reason for his actions could be that be that following further investigation he may have realised the concerns he expressed about HSSD were wide of the mark and felt his position had become untenable.
At the weekend Deputy Hadley broke rank over next year’s cash allocation, which he said was insufficient to maintain existing services, let alone meet aspirations.
Deputy Adam later dismissed the comment.
The Culture and Leisure Department had also called for Deputy Hadley to apologise for comments he had made about two of its members of staff after he said they had left their jobs as pharmacy technicians to become receptionists at Beau Sejour. A spokesman had said that Deputy Hadley had used the staff as examples in order to highlight how personnel shortages meant that intravenous feeds for premature babies could not be prepared locally, causing mothers to be flown off-island for treatment.
Article posted on 20th November, 2008 - 2.29pm
2 Article Comments
OH NO!!! I really hope he reconsiders.
He really spoke on behalf of the community and had the best interests of the island at heart. Its so hard to stand up and speak out for what you believe in and get slammed down every time. Another extremely competent deputy gone gone gone and who are we left with?
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He was on the radio this evening giving his reasons for resigning from the Board of Health. He is still a politician but feels that he can better question the Board decisions from the outside. He said it was difficult to speak out against what he considered Board decisions when he was part of the Board.
I hope that he continues to question things and perhaps he will be better able now that he is free from the shackles of being a Board member.
We need more people able and willing speak out for the good of the island. He did say that in the UK most health board meetings are public and not surrounded in secrecy. What a breath of fresh air that would be.
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