PEH modernisation key to meeting health challenges - Brouard
The next phase of modernisation of the Princess Elizabeth Hospital cannot come soon enough to enable Health & Social Care to attempt to overcome health challenges similar to those facing much of the western world.
HSC president Al Brouard said that the progress of phase 2 at the PEH would enable his committee to put in place a long-term plan for meeting the needs of the community.
He said it was ‘full steam ahead’ for HSC on the project.
‘There can be no doubt as to the rising pressures being placed on our health and care services, but with these additional facilities and resources we will be in a much better position to meet the challenges that lie ahead,’ he said.
Initiatives in orthopaedics and gastroenterology services saw more patients pass through the hospital last year, but waiting lists for operations continued to rise.
Deputy David De Lisle is among those who have expressed concerns about the continued long waiting lists.
‘There are a lot of people in pain having to wait too long,’ he said.
Deputy Brouard said that the best solution was to continue to develop the hospital with more operating theatres and nursing staff. HSC had looked at sending islanders off-island for operations, but there was a price tag associated with that even if the space were available, he said.
HSC also has to prepare to meet the challenges of the Supported Living and Ageing Well Strategy, which is set for a States debate in the first half of the year.
‘We need to seek to grow and stabilise long-term care provision so that we can meet the care needs of the community as it ages and demand for more complex care increases,’ said Deputy Brouard.
He said that his committee’s work on the strategy was well advanced and entering a consultation phase.
HSC was pursuing the design of a ‘fair, affordable, and sustainable model’, he said, enabling person-centred care, enhancing the independence of patients, and offering greater certainty over the funding of that care.
