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Senator Kristina Moore
Chair of the Future Hospital Review Panel By email
4th November 2021 Dear Senator Moore ,
Our Hospital Project – Next steps
Thank you for your letter dated 28th October 2021. Each of your questions is answered below.
The Political Oversight Group aims to ensure that the Future Hospital Review Panel are constantly updated on the progress of the Our Hospital Project so we are pleased that you found the senior officers' briefing useful.
Planning application
- Please could you confirm whether the Government will be acting on recommendations 3 and 4 of the Scrutiny report on the Outlie Business Case prior to the submission of the application?
A Ministerial response to the Panel's Report, Outline Business Case and Funding (S.R.13/2021) will be completed shortly and will provide the detailed answer to this question. In short, however, it is not anticipated that these two recommendations can be implemented prior to planning submission due to the constraints of the timeline for the Our Hospital Project. The work was always planned and will be undertaken and utilised appropriately in the course of the project. It is not anticipated that the planning determination will be influenced by the implementation of these recommendations.
- Please can you quantify the additional cost to the Our Hospital project required because the planning application will need to comply with both the current and proposed Island Plans?
The planning application will be submitted under the current Island Plan. The Bridging Island Plan is being prepared by Strategic Policy, Planning and Performance and it is anticipated that it will be in force in Spring 2022. Consequently, as is entirely normal with plan-led regimes, the planning application needs to consider policies in the current Island Plan and potential policies in the forthcoming Bridging Island Plan. Whilst this does entail limited additional work, it does not necessarily constitute duplication and consequently additional cost is not straightforward to quantify. It is normal for any planning application and all applicants, to be cognisant of current policy and emerging policy. Therefore, it is not unique to the OH project.
Private health care
The Panel would be grateful if clarification could be provided on the percentage (and/or number of individuals) of the population with private health care.
In Jersey, 44% of working adults, 18% of retired adults and 24% of adults not working (eg. in education, homemaker, unable to work) have private health care insurance. 86% of those working in the finance industry are privately insured. 57% of adults with private health insurance report that their insurance also covers family members. This information was sourced from the Jersey Opinions and Lifestyle Survey 2018. Anecdotally, policies are underused.
Workforce planning
Please could you confirm when a workforce planning strategy for the Our Hospital Project (as distinct from the general workforce strategy for the current health care and hospital structure) will be made available?
The workforce strategy for the OH Project will be developed next year following the island- wide health and care workforce strategy framework, which is being developed as part of the Jersey Care Model this year.
Transport to and from Les Quennevais
Please outline the plan which is being developed to ensure good public transport access to the site.
The former Les Quennevais School site is served by a number of frequent bus services and it has been agreed with Liberty Bus that the number 12a service will re-route and serve the site via a new bus stop in the car park. This service operates on an hourly basis. The Parish of St. Brelade Roads Committee have been consulted on this and have no objections.
There are also opportunities for patients and staff to utilise a number of other bus services, which run close to the site, including routes 12 and 22 (300m away on La Route Orange), and the 15 (450m away on La Route des Quennevais). Discussions remain ongoing with Liberty Bus regarding increasing the frequency of buses.
We have noted a comment by the Connétable of St Brelade's in the SRO update meeting on 25th October, regarding the challenge for patients from outlying areas in taking two bus journeys in each direction. This comment will inform ongoing discussions. It should be noted, however, that some users of the existing Overdale facilities may currently need to catch two buses to get to the health site.
For those that require it, a Patient Transfer service will also be available that covers all major healthcare facilities in Jersey. Between 15 and 20 passengers per day are currently brought to and from the existing Overdale Hospital Site, according to data collected from 9th March 2021 to 5th April 2021.
All of the above information is provided in the Transport Assessment that accompanies the Planning Application.
I trust this letter answers your questions satisfactorily. Yours sincerely,
Senator Lyndon Farnham
Deputy Chief Minister | Minister for Economic Development, Tourism, Sport and Culture +44 (0)1534 440628 l.farnham@gov.je