'Hospital staff working 14 days without a break'

Jersey hospital staff are not getting legally required minimum rest breaks, a politician has been told.

Deputy Catherine Curtis said she was told some staff were working without breaks on night shifts, while others were working 14 days without a break.

At a States Assembly session, Jersey's chief minister, who is also head of the States Employment Board, said there "may be occasions" on night shifts where it was harder to ensure breaks.

Deputy Lyndon Farnham also acknowledged facilities for rest breaks at the hospital were not up to standard, which he said made it more imperative to build a new hospital.

Curtis said the issues were "concerning because first of all it's not legal and it's not safe and sustainable either".

"Fourteen days without a break is not right," she added.

Speaking to the BBC after the discussion in the States Assembly, Curtis said: "I wasn't satisfied with the chief minister's answer.

"I think he really needs to investigate this matter, or have someone investigate it very thoroughly, because it's a safety concern - it's a worry.

"People are not getting enough time off work because there's a recruitment and retention crisis, and a recruitment freeze, which does affect hospital staff who are not front-line staff."

Farnham acknowledged "there may be occasions when we have a medic single-handedly covering a night shift and this makes ensuring breaks within shift more difficult to manage".

However, he said that, outside of that particular situation, he was not aware of staff not getting their legally-required rest periods.

He said: "Hospital staff working for health and care Jersey have their working patterns managed by a roster system. This ensures staff take their legally-required rest periods and breaks.

"On a day-to-day operational basis, it is the duty of the management teams to ensure that any changes to the roster don't causes contravention of the rules in relations to breaks and rest periods."

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