It's a funny old world!

The police media management of the Haut de la Garenne enquiry has received a massive vote of confidence from Ministers with the appointment of the Police Media Relations Officer Louise Journeaux, to take the lead on the media management of the expected fallout in the Health Department from the soon to be released independent report into the management of the death of Elizabeth Rourke in 2006.  

Readers may recall that initially the Department claimed to have managed the events well, including the exclusion (suspension?) of surgeon Mr John Day.   However, pressure from a number of States Members led to the appointment of “Verita” and “Solace” to conduct independent reviews.   The review reports have not yet been released but the hasty appointment of an experienced media person is a sign that the findings may not bode well for those in senior management at the time.

The former Chief Officer of the department, and close associate of Chief Executive Bill Ogley, resigned some months ago for "personal reasons" It is believed that Dr. Day may soon be returning to work.   Perhaps his suspension was just a "misunderstanding."  If it was it was a £3m+ misunderstanding and questions are bound to be asked regarding the judgement of those involved.

But the appointment of Louise Journeaux to take the lead with the media is the biggest surprise. Police Chief Graham Power has been suspended since 2008.  It is understood that among the allegations under investigation is that he did not ensure that the right media management was in place. The head of media management for the Force at that time was none other than the said Louise Journeaux. “Once the villain, now the heroine, it’s a funny old world”. 

If the police media management by her at Haut de la Garenne was so bad that it justified the suspension of the Chief Officer how come that the lead person in that episode has now been selected in an effort to save the skins of senior players in yet another crisis?  

Could it be that Louise really is a respected and competent professional who knows how to manage in a crisis and that her star performance under pressure during the abuse enquiry made her the first choice when Ministers saw their own skins on the line?   I believe that this is the real reason.  

So will Ministers now stop claiming that media management at HDLG was rubbish and remove the suspension on the Police Chief?   All that is needed for this to happen is honesty, consistency, and a realisation that in fast moving crisis things will never be perfect.