Health services due to be relocated from Overdale to the former Les Quennevais School building

21.03.02

8 Deputy M.R. Le Hegarat of St. Helier of the Assistant Chief Minister regarding the

health services due to be relocated from Overdale to the former Les Quennevais School building (OQ.46/2021):

What health services, if any, that are due to be relocated from Overdale to the former Les Quennevais School building is it anticipated will not return in their current form on completion of the new hospital?"

Senator L.J. Farnham (Assistant Chief Minister):

In the short time from the States Assembly decision on 17th November 2020 for Overdale as the preferred site for the hospital project, the team has worked at a good pace to find an alternative site, announced on 1st February, for the decant of the Overdale services and since then have undertaken 3 sets of clinical user group meetings to consult with the staff in order to design an appropriate facility at Les Quennevais for services currently at Overdale. All services can be accommodated at the former Les Quennevais School buildings other than the pharmacy store, meals on wheels and horticulture, the location of which are still a work in progress with further meetings planned this week. As for the services returning to the new hospital, all those will be accommodated in the new hospital in due course. Some have asked not to do that and others will have a split service by design in line with the new care model and in line with the introduction of more community-facing services. I would like to reassure Members and the public that the new hospital will be the pinnacle, the hub and the centre of healthcare in Jersey and will facilitate future models into the future.

The Bailiff :

Bring your answer to a close, please.

1. Deputy M.R. Le Hegarat :

I am a little concerned, as are the public. The Minister has said that all services, bar a few of those going to Les Quennevais, will be returning. However, this is not shown in the hospital brief. Can he please explain why the hospital brief does not show all the services that are currently at Overdale that are anticipated to return?

Senator L.J. Farnham :

I will have to relook at the hospital brief. I am not sure, unless the Deputy would like to just perhaps contact me separately to just list those that she is talking about and then I can provide a response directly, but I refer to my answer that the vast majority of services going from Overdale to Les Quennevais will be going to the new hospital. That was the question she asked. If she is referring to what services are currently in the total health estate that will not be included or may not be included in the Overdale site; that needs to be a separate question and we can address that. But I will stipulate that the new hospital will be the centre, the hub of all health services for Jersey.

2. Deputy I. Gardiner :

The functional brief compared to what we have in our hospital currently. and I will just mention a few - a dental department, a hospital hydrotherapy pool, diabetes service, memory assessment service, neurology and neuroscience and others - that are not included in the functional brief. Would the Minister confirm that all these services will be allocated somewhere in the community before you finalise the services within the hospital, so we will not end up building extra buildings around the community without including them in the hospital in the first place?

Senator L.J. Farnham :

I would be happier deferring this to the Minister for Health and Social Services in due course, who has responsibility for what will happen in the new hospital and what will happen in the community. But I can confirm that in line with the new healthcare model, as approved by the States, we will either have services based within the new hospital campus or with more emphasis on services that can be better delivered and more efficiently delivered within the community. I cannot envisage at all any situation where any service provided now will not be fully accommodated in one of those circumstances. In fact, we hope in the new hospital, which will be an exemplar of modern healthcare, to be able to introduce additional services to those we already offer.

3. Deputy I. Gardiner :

As the Minister who is responsible for the new hospital project, would the Minister ensure that we have infrastructure in place in the community, which I am very doubtful about, to accommodate services that will be taken out from the current hospital?

Senator L.J. Farnham :

Yes. I think I can refer to my previous answer. Every health service we have now will be facilitated and the infrastructure will be provided, whether that is in the new hospital campus or within the community. I can confirm that. Of course, we do not know exactly yet what will be community facing and what will be split services based at the hospital and in the community and what will move directly to the community. That is a work in progress and that is being led by the Minister for Health and Social Services and his team, but I just want to reiterate that all of the services, and hopefully new services, will be included in either the hospital or within the community infrastructure.

4. Senator K.L. Moore :

As the Minister with responsibility for this major project, why does the Minister not have a better handle on the services that will be provided within the Future Hospital?

[11:00]

Deputy Gardiner has already highlighted some examples of services that are not identified as returning to the General Hospital in the functional brief.

Senator L.J. Farnham :

I believe I have, together with the oversight group and all of the team, an excellent handle on the development of the new hospital. What I do not have in front of me is an extensive list of every single service offered. That does not relate to the original question asked by Deputy Le Hegarat and I believe supplementaries should be in line with the original question. It was in relation to what services were being transferred to Les Quennevais and back to Overdale. Yes, we have a full and very good grasp of the project but if the Senator would like to ask a more detailed question in a future sitting perhaps, or even engage directly with me outside of the States, we would be very pleased to provide a detailed answer. With the best will in the world, I am afraid I do not have the facts in front of me to list every single type of service on offer.

5. Deputy M.R. Le Hegarat :

This question relates to a considerable concern from the general public who have seen that services have been moved and do not appear to return. As an example, rehabilitation and the rehabilitation ward theoretically started at Overdale and then it was only moved to the General Hospital at Gloucester Street as a result of COVID-19. That service appears to be nowhere, so if the Minister could answer the question in relation to where the rehabilitation ward will be located, that would be helpful.

Senator L.J. Farnham :

As I said before, the final outcome of placement of services, whether they be totally in the new hospital, split service between the hospital and the community or in the community is still a work in progress. I cannot answer that presently but we will provide that. As the project develops, as the healthcare model develops, we will be very pleased to answer all of those questions and I am sure the Minister for Health and Social Services, who leads that aspect of the project, will also be able to provide clarification as the project develops. I want to reiterate that every single service that is provided now will have new provision in the new health estate, the pinnacle of which will be our new hospital.