Problems ahead if PEH is not modernised – GP

Dr Mat Dorrian, who is also Guernsey’s representative for the British Medical Association, is concerned that factors such as increased hospital usage and an ageing population have the potential to overwhelm the current system.

‘Services are stretched as they are. We’ve got higher bed occupancy than ever, and the number of people using the Emergency Department is much higher too,’ he said.

Dr Dorrian said that between 2006 – the year he started working in the department – and 2016, the number of people using the ED had stayed relatively stable at about 15,000 people per year.

Since Health & Social Care took over operations in 2016, he said that the number had gradually increased, and last year about 22,000 people used the department.

Dr Dorrian also expressed worries he and the BMA had about staff recruitment and retention, its primary concern, if the redevelopment was put on hold, as is being recommended by the Policy & Resources Committee as it seeks to prioritise capital spending projects.

‘The transition to a more modernised facility would allow for better patient flow throughout the hospital due to upgrades to the day-patient facility and maternity care, for example.

‘More efficient patient flow makes the staff’s job easier, and the consequences of that will be reflected in increased morale, as well as in the overall level of care patients receive.’

‘We are fortunate not to have faced some of the problems that the NHS has had to deal with in the UK.

‘It is not by chance that Guernsey has an excellent healthcare system, and I fear that it will be difficult to resurrect if we neglect it.

'It will end up costing all of us if we don’t invest now.’