Approval for first phase of PEH modernisation

This phase will include relocation of the maternity unit and expanding critical care and the theatres suite.

A total of up to £93.4m. is due to be spent by Health & Social Care on the three-phase project, and president Heidi Soulsby told members that for 70 years the work undertaken at the PEH had contributed in no small way to islanders having one of the longest life expectancies anywhere in the world.

The campus had a key role to play in HSC’s new medical model, the Partnership of Purpose. ‘We are struggling with what we have now,’ she said. ‘The design is not flexible.

‘The 10-year modernisation programme is an essential catalyst for care,’ said Deputy Soulsby.

While members broadly accepted the proposals, some were critical of the lack of detail in the policy letter, with Deputy Chris Green saying that members would not really know what they were paying for.

Deputy Jennifer Merrett said that perhaps the community’s expectations and needs should be fully understood rather than just reorganising the hospital. ‘What I am keen to ensure happens is that the services shape the future infrastructure rather than the building dictating the service provisions.’

Deputy Barry Brehaut wanted to know about staffing, given that in the UK the NHS was reportedly going to be 51,000 nurses short in future as a result of Brexit.

The scale of the staff requirements was missing from the report, he said.

A plea for independent scrutiny of the proposals to make sure mistakes were not made was put forward by Deputy Mark Dorey, citing examples of how mistakes had been made in the development of the PEH in the past, such as having maternity too far from the operating theatres.

Deputy Gavin St Pier said later in the debate that the normal project assurance reviews with independent experts would go ahead.

Deputy Laurie Queripel attempted to place a last-minute amendment, seconded by Deputy Joe Mooney, to have the business case for the project debated before Policy & Resources was delegated to approved spending of up to £44.3m.

Placing this would have involved a rule of procedure preventing late amendments being suspended, but members voted against this by 21 votes to 18.

Deputy Queripel said he was disappointed that people would not have the chance to hear the details of the business case.

He went on to raise a concern about the amount of asbestos on the site and asked for an assurance that there would be a comprehensive plan to deal with it.

Deputy Dawn Tindall said there was a structured means of dealing with it already.

Deputies Carl Meerveld and Lester Queripel also questioned delegating authority to P&R without further scrutiny of the final numbers before anything was spent.

The Assembly approved HSC’s requests, with the proposal relating to the delegation of authority to P&R going to a recorded vote and being passed by 33 votes to six.