Letter - from Chief Minister re Our Hospital Preferred Access Route - 22 December 2020

19-21 Broad Street | St Helier Jersey | JE2 4WE

Senator Kristina Moore

Chair, Future Hospital Review Panel

BY EMAIL

22 December 2020 Drear Chair,

OUR HOSPITAL – PREFERRED ACCESS ROUTE

Thank you for your letter dated 15 December, in which you ask me to confirm whether the 6-week lodging period for P.167/2020 - Our Hospital: Preferred Access Route will be maintained.

Unfortunately, I am unable to currently provide a definitive indication of when a potential date for a debate on P.167/2020 might be scheduled, however, I feel strongly that this key strategic project should not be delayed unless absolutely necessary.

The Our Hospital Political Oversight Group ("POG") does not want to prolong the uncertainty of residents who are in a position to sell their properties, some of which have made arrangements to purchase new homes. In addition, the POG is acutely aware that further delay will not enable the land assembly programme to progress and would compromise the critical path to delivery of a new hospital at Overdale.

The critical path is designed to meet a target date of having a new hospital operational by the end of 2026. You will be aware from the work that you have already done, that from 2026 the Gloucester Street facility lifecycle costs rise dramatically where a significant programme of backlog maintenance is either currently being undertaken or is planned over the next few years. This means that the estate will become significantly more expensive to maintain and, despite significant investment in maintenance, defined safety standards, quality requirements and functionality expectations may not be met. The result will be that, over time, the Gloucester Street site will be less and less able to safely meet the health requirements of Islanders.

Therefore, delaying the hospital beyond this date does have consequences to the health of Islanders. We are on the critical path, and delays now mean delaying that journey further will threaten the timely delivery of the project.

This was evidenced in the report, Planned Maintenance for Current Hospital Estate, that was sent to you on 7 May 2020 date. Any unnecessary delay would inevitably lead to an increase in the cost of the programme due to increased team costs – the average daily cost of which is c £55,000 per day. When inflationary impacts are taken into account, which on a project of this scale are significant, the cost of a non-productive day will be in excess of £100,000.

The technical report appended to P.167/2020 serves to confirm that the initial studies undertaken by world- class engineers on behalf of the Design and Delivery Partner were robust: the review concludes that Westmount Road is the most feasible primary access route option for a new hospital at Overdale, which would minimise the impact on residences and ecology, as well as maximise opportunities for sustainable and active modes of travel. The costs for these road improvements are included within the cost envelope of £550m agreed with the Design and Delivery Partner. We also remain committed to ensuring appropriate sustainable transport options will be included in the transport solution for a new hospital, which will be consistent with the Sustainable Transport Policy as approved by the Assembly.

I note from your letter that you propose to undertake a review of P.167/2020 and that the Terms of Reference was received this afternoon.

Notwithstanding the important role of Scrutiny, the Panel did not previously raise any concerns about access via Westmount Road in P.123/2020 - Our Hospital Site Selection: Overdale. In addition, P.167/2020 has been prepared in order to comply with the amendment to P.123/2020 by the Connétable of St Helier, who clearly articulated during the debate that he did not want to unnecessarily delay the delivery of the project.

Yours sincerely,

Senator John Le Fondré Chief Minister