Interviews

Emelita Robbins - A duty of care

Emelita Robbins

Chief Executive Officer/Director, Jersey Hospice Care & Winner of the IoD Director of the Year Awards 2018 Third Sector

Since becoming a lawyer over 20 years ago, could you tell us what area you specialised in and why you chose to leave this profession?

I was interested in all forms of property disputes when I went to the Bar and studied subjects that prepared me for joining the Chancery or Admiralty Bar. I applied for pupillage in London with the intention of returning to Jersey once that was completed. In those days it was only the lucky few who received any form of stipend during pupillage and so as much as I enjoyed that period, I think I spent more on train fares to courts outside of London that I actually earned. A chance discussion led me to apply for a role at Herbert Smith (legacy firm), with a promise that it would bring an end to having to berate my clerk in Chambers on a daily basis to chase for unpaid fees. I joined the firm and became a commercial litigator with specialist expertise in construction and engineering related disputes. It was a hugely interesting career, with lots of opportunities to grow. I started the firm’s first diversity and inclusivity network and was instrumental in promoting a culture of gender equality across the organisation. It was when I was asked to go to Seoul to open a new office that I reflected the time had come to prioritise my young family and we moved back to Jersey.

I was soon undertaking the Jersey Bar exams in order to practice as an Advocate. More significantly I also became a trustee at Jersey Hospice Care. It was a role that allowed me to give back to our community and one which in time led to an unexpected career change.

What was it that drew you to work for Jersey Hospice Care?

The charity is an incredible organisation, founded by volunteers and flourishing because of the community it supports. The care it has provided to so many over the years has I suspect touched the families of every islander in some way.

My time as a trustee brought home that like so many charities that had grown quickly in size, Hospice had become a very complex organisation, with over 600 volunteers and staff contributing to its success. It was evident that the charity needed to invest in its infrastructure and move to more of a business operating model.

It was a leap of faith to take on the role of Chief Executive, and I was uncertain what I could bring to the role, but it was a great privilege to be appointed and I believed from the start that the affection with which the charity was held in the community would mean we had considerable external support for the changes we wished to bring.

Is it difficult to close the door at the end of the day and go home to your family?

Few if any leaders of a non-profit organisation or for that matter a healthcare provider, will tell you, I suspect, that they close the door to the concerns of their organisation when they go home. In the early years I had to remind myself that there were other subjects other than Hospice that people might want to talk about!

There is now a fantastic executive leadership team in place that together provide a great deal of expertise and strategic vision for the charity and its role in the island’s wider healthcare system. It is a privilege to be part of that team and to know the impact the charity has on the lives of so many. I go home with that thought every day.

How did you feel when you were nominated and subsequently won the IoD Director of the Year Awards 2018 for the Third Sector?

I was delighted and a little overwhelmed. It represented recognition of the value of the changes we were seeking to implement. This was hugely cemented with the win which affirmed the decision to introduce numerous governance and business practices into the charity.

I believe that the arts feed the soul and fire the imagination.

You follow inspirational leaders on your Linkedin page; Bill Gates, Richard Branson, Deepak Chopra and others. What is it that you most admire about these individuals?

I am a reader - although I confess the Audible App has become my best friend. Knowledge leads to good decisions and inspirational leaders both nourish that growth and quicken the journey to understanding. As a young lawyer I won a debating competition. The prize was lunch with Bill Gates and Richard Branson. I have been in awe of them ever since.

What are your aspirations for Jersey Hospice Care?

The charity was founded at a point in time when there was a growing consciousness that there was little or no system of healthcare offered to cancer patients for whom treatment options had run out. Hospice emerged as an ethos for end of life care based on compassion and dignity, recognising the emotional, spiritual and physical needs of each person. For patients with cancer and motor neurone disease who were able to access its services this represented a paradigm shift in the support available to them.

The charity has greatly broadened its offering over time, care is now available to anyone with any life limiting condition and the focus is more on living, - living well right up until the end.

My aspirations for Hospice centre on themes of equity and capacity. I hope that we continue to evolve and stay relevant in the modern era of medicine, for despite incredible advances people with life-limiting illnesses still suffer significantly and there is a real need for greater palliative care throughout the trajectory of a person’s illness. There are also clear gaps in provision in Jersey for people experiencing chronic suffering, namely children for whom there is not the breadth of services provided to adults, and amongst our ageing population, where suffering can be very real and evident but not caused by a malignant illness.

Tell us about the photographic record of 2020 you are working on and the exhibition?

I may not have ended up with a career in the arts, but I remain passionate about them and their value to society. I believe that the arts feed the soul and fire the imagination. Earlier in the year the photographer Glen Perotte approached me to collaborate on a special legacy project with him. The project entitled 2020, captures the year in vision. A year that shall forever be associated with a deadly pandemic, but a year that might as easily have been remembered for when Brexit became official, or for witnessing a long overdue global movement for racial justice. The project takes the form of a book and an exhibition that shall run through the month of December. It depicts the story of our community, offering evidence of existence, realism, reflection and revelation, thus demonstrating that the documentation of history need not be confined to written literature.