House Commences Debate on Bill to Make NFPB a Division in Ministry of Health and Wellness

The House of Representatives on Tuesday (November 7) commenced the debate on the National Family Planning Board (Repeal) Bill 2023.

The legislation allows for not only the removal of the body corporate status of the National Family Planning Board (NFPB) but also for the reformulation of the functions of the entity as a new Division in the Ministry of Health and Wellness.

Opening the debate, Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton, said the integration is part of the Government’s thrust to rationalise public bodies under the Public Sector Transformation Programme.

Dr. Tufton explained that given the nature of the NFPB, its integration as a Division in the Ministry will see significant changes to include the merger of the HIV Prevention Programme and the HIV treatment programme under the Health Promotion and Prevention Branch; the integration of Family Planning as part of the Family Health Unit of the Ministry, as well as the transfer of responsibility for the procurement and other logistics management for contraceptives to the National Health Fund (NHF).

The NHF currently manages the procurement of all pharmaceutical and medical sundries for the Government of Jamaica.

Dr. Tufton noted that the creation of the new Division, the Client Services Division, in the Ministry will also herald functions such as patient care and client support policy and programmes, to include the institutionalisation of the Compassionate Care Programme, and a patient compliant mechanism that looks at issues of medical negligence and medico-legal complaints.

Other functions include social determinants of health that will look at the provision of Social Protection Support and Social Work Practice for clients, which will include the Compassionate Fund and other social welfare programmes such as social cases in hospitals, an enabling environment for health and human rights that looks at issues of vulnerability and advocacy for health, and the engagement of different groups in health services delivery.

“With these changes will also come a change in the name of the entity to the Client Services Division. As with the National Council on Drug Abuse (NCDA), the process to integrate the NFPB dates back to 2018, with the start of the Public Sector Transformation Programme,” Dr. Tufton said.

With respect of the NCDA, the Minister said the team from the Transformation Implementation Unit has been working with the Ministry on the development and implementation of the change-management plan.

“A transition plan was developed to guide the movement of staff from the old structure to the new structures that have been proposed. These plans were signed off by the Ministry of Finance, the Jamaica Civil Service Association, the Services Commission and the Ministry of Health and Wellness,” Dr. Tufton stated.

The Minister said the Ministry has been mindful to give attention to managing the change with transition arrangements.

He informed that transition plans were developed to document policy guidelines to ensure a comprehensive and transparent process based on Human Resource (HR) best practices and approaches.

“By adopting the approaches outlined in the transition policies, the Division should be staffed and staff integrated within the wider Ministry with minimal disruption and minimum staff anxiety or concerns.” Dr. Tufton said.

In addition, a transition steering committee has been convened to oversee the process and ensure all entitlements/payments/benefits due to staff are identified and properly processed, including redundancy payments, monitoring the winding up processing and transferring of access to the Ministry, and monitoring the winding up of existing pension arrangements.

Organisational structures and business processes are also being redesigned to ensure there is no duplication of functions and workflows are efficient and effective.

Communication Plans have also been drafted to ensure processes are in place to keep both staff and external stakeholders informed.

“Further, change management plans are being drafted to build support for the change and increase the capacity of employees to make informed decisions as well as to improve mental status, even as consultations have been initiated with the Jamaica Civil Service Association,” Dr. Tufton said.

“At the same time, the Transition Steering Committee is to endeavour to ensure, among other things, that the required procedures are followed in making all current NFPB Staff redundant and also that all staff enjoy the same approved benefits and compensation packages accorded to the current employees at the Ministry,” he added.

Dr. Tufton further noted that the Jamaica Civil Service Association, Strategic Human Resource Management Division of the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service, the Office of the Services Commissions and the Ministry of Health and Wellness shall be involved throughout the HR Transition to ensure that all actions taken are in compliance with government regulations and practices and that the rights of staff are respected.

“Every effort is being made to ensure that where staff is not selected for a position within the Ministry, placement will be identified with the Regional Health Authorities or other ministries, agencies and departments,” Dr. Tufton said.

Regarding termination payments, the Minister informed that given that the old organisation was a public body and staff are being transferred to positions in the civil service and given that the law is being proposed to be repealed through the bill tabled in Parliament, termination benefits will be paid to staff.

“These benefits include the payment of a redundancy. The payment of the redundancy has been approved by Cabinet and will be calculated up to the final date of July 31, 2024, this is the target date for completion of integration process. The NFPB has a pension fund that will be wound up,” Dr. Tufton said.

Meanwhile, the Minister stated that the integration of the NFPB, as with the NCDA, is to streamline the overall functions of government.

“Based on the assessment conducted by the Ministry of Finance, the need for body corporate status for the entity was not a requirement for the effective and efficient execution of its functions,” he pointed out.

He further stated that under the primary healthcare reform programme and in line with Vision for Health 2030, “the introduction of the life course approach requires that there is a holistic restructuring of all services provided to the population, and the current transition sees us doing just that”.