New facility to treat divers with bends could be near ED

The proposal is to place it near the entrance to the Emergency Department. It be at a 90 degree angle to the main building and behind parking spaces for the disabled.

It was announced last year that a new chamber had been ordered at a cost of £340,000 after Policy & Resources approved a request for funding from capital expenditure.

The island’s previous chamber was more than 40 years old and required replacement or significant upgrading.

It was funded over its long lifetime by public donation, but in 2014 St John Ambulance said it did not have the money for either replacement or repair.

The new chamber will be a self-contained specialist facility that will only require connection to the existing services. The project will involve excavation, disposal and levelling of a grass bank. Some damage will be caused to a hedge and a tree but it is hoped to relocate both items elsewhere on the site.

HSC was forced to rent a chamber, at an annual cost of £60,000, following the closure, but divers needing treatment for the bends faced a £30,000 charge which caused problem in terms of insurance cover.

In June, president Deputy Heidi Soulsby announced a revised charging structure based on her committee’s ability to purchase a hyperbaric chamber rather than continue to rent one.

She said they had listened to the diving and insurance communities and acted pragmatically to reduce fees.

The chamber was used four times in 2016. It cost HSC £30,000 to run the chamber between January and July last year even though it was never used.

Anyone suffering decompression sickness is now charged the relevant fee depending on the time and day of attendance, along with a critical care charge of £340.

If the chamber is required the patient will be charged £200 per hour to reflect the costs of operating the facility.

This reduced costs from £30,000 to as low as £595 per time.