Deputy Andy Sloan announced a full review of the project, which has been dogged by escalating costs and is now being scoped again by the Health & Social Care Committee, earlier this week.
He said yesterday that the review would be a great opportunity to reshape the plans alongside consideration of a new approach to acute healthcare locally.
‘We can’t keep pouring good money after bad. We have to figure out what the issues are with this project, and this is also a timely opportunity to take stock and see if we really want and can afford to do healthcare in this way.
‘Why be building a hospital extension now? How many more operating theatres do we want or need?’
The estimated cost of phase two grew to £130m. in the previous States term despite facilities being cut back, but is understood to have expanded again by tens of millions of pounds. External cost consultants have told Health & Social Care that the project cannot be delivered within the funding envelope agreed, which will have an impact on hospital waiting lists. Inflation and rising local building costs have been blamed.
HSC was trying to reframe the programme but has since admitted that it might need to start again, which Deputy Sloan said would be a good idea as part of a wider healthcare review.
He said his committee had been tracking the programme and the sluggish progress made on a new electronic patient records system since it was constituted 13 months ago.
‘We tried to give them time to get on top of things,’ said Deputy Sloan, ‘but now we feel that a Scrutiny review is the best way to really learn from what has happened here.’
He said that he believed that Health had now gone past the stage of being able to bundle together a new approach on the hospital extension without starting again.
HSC is also frustrated that the new critical care unit, which was scheduled for completion in 2024 at a cost of £34m., is now unlikely to open until 2027 and needs more work to meet fire standards, which will be funded by the States.
Deputy Sloan has faced criticism for his committee focusing on live issues with the Policy & Resources Committee rather than holding public hearings with the major spending committees so far this term. But he defended the approach.
‘We nearly changed the direction of travel on the Budget, we did so on the Fiscal Policy Framework, we’ve had an impact on the capital portfolio and the tax review,’ he said.
‘I’m not sure what else any other committee has actually done in the past 12 months that’s new.’