THE duties of Jersey’s chief pharmaceutical officer are “currently being covered by other senior pharmacists” following the departure of Deborah O’Driscoll, who occupied the position for over three years, the Health Department has confirmed.
Ms O’Driscoll was appointed to the role on an interim basis in November 2022 to replace departing chief pharmacist Paul McCabe, who has since taken up a senior post at the medicinal cannabis company Green Island Growers.
In a LinkedIn post, she described entering a “new chapter” after “more than 20 years with the Government of Jersey”.
She is now working as a director at ‘Winter Pharma Advisory’, a company described as offering “medicines, regulation, governance and pharmacy leadership expertise.”
In a statement, the Health Department’s director of workforce Stephen James stated that an “arrangement” was in place across the pharmacy team in the wake of Ms O’Driscoll’s departure.
“I can confirm that the duties of the chief pharmaceutical are currently being covered by other senior pharmacists within the department”, he said.
“This arrangement ensures continuity of leadership, maintains the highest standards of clinical governance, and supports the safe and effective delivery of pharmacy services during this interim period.”
It is understood that Ms O’Driscoll officially left the post on 15 April, nearly two years after a sweeping independent review into the operations of the Hospital’s pharmacy in 2024.
Top British pharmacists Martin Keble and Phil Southworth identified an “overall lack of communication and poor visibility of senior leaders within the department” and prescribed a major top-down cultural reset.
In total, 56 short, medium and long-term recommendations were made, encompassing culture, workforce, workload, education and training.
Following Ms O’Driscoll’s departure, the JEP asked the department for an update on which recommendations have been completed and which remain outstanding.
A spokesperson for the Health Department confirmed that the 56 recommendations were presented to the Advisory Board in November 2024.
“Recognising that this volume was not practical to deliver in full, the board endorsed a more focused improvement plan, consolidating them into a small number of prioritised, measurable actions,” it was said.
The Health Department said that “great progress has been made in the completion of these actions”, including strengthened staff engagement “through listening events” and the development of a Pharmacy Culture Charter.
“This has had a marked improvement in culture and staff morale across the hospital pharmacy service”, the spokesperson noted.
The statement also referred to “further improvements” including increased recruitment activity, decreased staff turnover, reduced staff sickness and improved workforce planning.
Also featured in the list of improvements is “investment in education and the expansion of training with the new development programmes and regular training sessions supporting staff at all levels.”
It was noted that of the 56 original recommendations, four were deemed “not applicable in the Jersey context” and 37 have since been completed.
“The remaining 15 are in progress but are more complex, requiring wider system-level changes, including legislative and funding reforms”, it stated.
“The remaining recommendations and associated improvement plan are overseen by the Quality Committee, a subcommittee of the HCJ Board, with updates to be considered at the board meeting in July.”
