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Review: Draft Regulation of Care (Jersey) Amendment Law 202-

Committee/Panel: Environment, Housing and Infrastructure Panel
Launch Date: 19 August 2025
Review Status: Comments published
Review Report: Draft Regulation of Care (Jersey) Amendment Law 202- (P.57/2025) :Comments

About

The Regulation of Care Sub-Panel has been established to scrutinise the proposals set out under the Draft Regulation of Care (Jersey) Amendment Law 202-.

On 14th July 2025, the Minister for the Environment, Deputy Steve Luce, lodged proposals to amend the Regulation of Care (Jersey) Law 2014 (the “2014 Law”) and the Regulation of Care (Standards and Requirements) (Jersey) Regulations 2018 (the “2018 Regulations”) to “…implement independent regulation of Jersey’s hospital services (including Government provided mental health services) and ambulance services.”

The proposed amendments to the 2014 Law are a continuation of a longer-term process of extending the overarching 2014 Law from care homes, adult day care services and children’s social work and outpatient mental health services to hospital, ambulance and most Government-provided mental health services, with legally enforceable standards of care.

The implementation of the 2014 Law has been approached on a phased basis, and included the regulation of care homes, home care and adult day care services which was the first phase adopted by the States Assembly in November 2018. The regulation of social work and outpatient mental health services for children and young people was the second phase of the project adopted by the States Assembly in April 2022.

The current amendments lodged by the Minister for the Environment on 14th July 2025 represent the third phase of amendments to the 2014 Law. These proposals were set out in the Draft Regulation of Care (Jersey) Amendment Law 202- (the “draft Law”). The proposals contain four key changes to the legislation related to:

  • (Part 2 of the draft Law): Strengthening the governance and independence of the Jersey Care Commission.
  • (Part 3 of the draft Law): Describing the characteristics of the new care services to be regulated, that include hospital, other Government-provided health services including mental health services, ambulance services, laser clinic services currently regulated by the Nursing Homes (Jersey) Law 1994 and hyperbaric oxygen therapy services. 
  • (Part 4 of the draft Law): Amends the eligibility criteria for members of the Board of the Jersey Care Commission.
  • (Part 5 of the draft Law): Proposes changes to the 2018 Regulations.

Terms of reference

  1. To assess the rationale and implications of extending regulation at the third phase of the project to:
    1. Government-provided health services, including adult and child mental health services
    2. Ambulance services
    3. Private hospital and ambulance services.
    4. Laser clinics and hyperbaric oxygen therapy providers
  2. To evaluate the enforceability of the new regulations and examine the rationale for the shift in personal legal responsibility for regulatory matters from Chief Officers to Ministers.
  3. To assess whether the new regulations account for the recommendations and findings of previous Jersey-specific healthcare reviews and inquiries.
  4. To consider the adequacy and impact of governance changes to the Jersey Care Commission, including eligibility criteria such as term limits and disqualification criteria.
  5. To assess the proportionality and safeguards of new powers to:
    1. Suspend sole and small providers
    2. Register multiple managers for large services
    3. Restrict services to specific groups (e.g. children)
    4. To allow the Jersey Care Commission to operate in other jurisdictions
 
  1. To consider the amendments to the Regulation of Care (Standards and Requirements) (Jersey) Regulations 2018, including the introduction of a duty of candour, rights to access care records, enhanced communication and visitor access alongside any potential implications for privacy, data protection, vulnerable groups and the impact of these requirements on the Jersey Care Commission.
  2. To assess the readiness of the service providers in scope of the proposals to implement the changes and evaluate transitional arrangements and stakeholder engagement.