The figure was released in the response to a freedom of information request, which revealed that £9,052,420.65 had been paid to ‘external consultants’ and that more than £5 million had been used to fund ‘off-site preliminary works’.
Planning fees accounted for £212,250, relocation works for £375,515 and ‘pre-feasibility and feasibility work’ for £576,525. Despite the mounting costs, the response says that the project is progressing ‘in accordance with anticipated actions’.
In 2016, a Council of Ministers’ proposition stating that its preferred location for the new hospital was the existing site put the cost of stage one of the so-called Future Hospital project at £27 million, which would cover bills for work up to the lodging of detailed proposals.
To put that figure in perspective, in 2015 it was estimated that the new Les Quennevais School would cost £40 million. Last year, ministers said that the new hospital was likely to come with a price tag of £466 million.
Health Minister Andrew Green said that the amount spent so far on the future hospital was within budget.
‘This is below what we had budgeted for. You cannot do a project of this size without spending this sort of money,’ he said.
He added that those who specialised in the construction of new hospitals had run similar schemes in the UK which had cost more for the preliminary work.
‘You would not expect that,’ the minister said. ‘You would expect it to be the other way around.’
He explained that the business case for the new hospital which would provide details such as when building was expected to start, should be published in the next couple of weeks or so.
The decision to locate the building on the current site followed the abandoning of any plans to build it on the People’s Park after a fierce public backlash against the idea.
To support the assertion that the hospital project was progressing broadly as planned, the response to the FoI request listed aspects of the work which had been completed or were in progress.
It said that the project brief and execution plan were complete, site assessment work on the preferred site was ‘in train’, assessments which would inform the ‘completed business case’ were complete, the concept design for the hospital was done, a procurement strategy was complete, outline planning application had been submitted, and that the tendering process and ‘relocation works packages’ had begun.
A statement released by Health said that much of the work had been going on out of sight. It added that the work included planning for the relocation of departments to enable work on the current site to be carried out to minimise disruption to services.
The statement also said that money had been spent on ‘extensive engagement with stakeholders’. It continued: ‘Much of this work has taken place behind the scenes, but will be shared with Islanders in the coming weeks.
‘Around £5.5 million worth of spending covers work on the Health and Social Services estate that has already been completed, particularly to the Overdale site such as improvements to Samarès Ward, relocation of staff from dilapidated offices to Eagle House and the refurbishment of the Poplars and William Knott centres.’
