‘PEH modernisation can finish before Les Ozouets’
THE successful completion of Guernsey’s hospital modernisation programme does not require the Les Ozouets campus to be completed first, the Health & Social Care president told States members yesterday.
Deputy Al Brouard cited recent media reports which carried an assertion from Deputy Carl Meerveld which he thought misleading.
‘It has been stated that it isn’t feasible for phase 2 of the Our Hospital Modernisation Programme to proceed before the Transforming Education Programme, due to the relocation of the Institute of Health and Social Care Studies to the Les Ozouets campus,’ he said.
‘There is accommodation in the PEH utilised by the Institute, which comprises 16 team members requiring office accommodation and teaching spaces, and there is a library. In addition, HSC has a team of staff delivering mandatory training specifically for our own staff.
‘The important distinction is that although the institute and the HSC training team currently share some facilities, our mandatory training staff working specifically within health are not part of the institute and they will remain on the PEH campus, both during and after the completion of phase 2.’
Temporary library facilities and office accommodation could also be found within the PEH, he said.
While repeating his wish that the Les Ozouets campus project and the PEH modernisation project should not be considered as being involved in a two-horse race for States funding, he did reiterate that his committee would ‘put all of our weight’ behind the latter.
The modernisation – which has full planning permission – is intended to deliver a new maternity ward and neonatal intensive care unit, a new paediatric ward, private ward facilities, an admissions and discharge unit, an outpatient’s unit and four additional theatres, all in new facilities.
In addition, there would be refurbishment of four existing theatres, a new orthopaedic ward, new facilities for the breast unit, a newly-configured Emergency Department and overnight accommodation.
‘These new spaces have been carefully designed to enhance patient experience, better manage patient flow to allow for greater efficiencies in working practices, reduce clinical risks, reduce unnecessary admissions and to learn from the pandemic experience and ensure our resilience,’ Deputy Brouard said.
He warned that some recruitment had been helped by the promise of modernisation, and that halting it could damage morale and lead to the departure of some staff.
