Senator John Le Fondré has criticised the Future Hospital Review Panel for a report that he said was based on unrepresentative feedback and misunderstandings.
In an official response to the panel’s report on the funding and business case for the new-hospital project, Senator Le Fondré contested many of the report’s findings and rejected seven of its nine recommendations.
The panel, chaired by Kristina Senator Moore, issued its report last month and said there were numerous holes in the project and little evidence to justify its scale.
Although the government’s communication and consultation for the project was described as having ‘done little to reassure Islanders about the cost of the new hospital’, the Chief Minister claimed there was no conclusive evidence to support this view.
He said: ‘The panel received 134 responses from members of the public as part of its review, approximately 0.1% of our Island’s population.
‘There is no analysis of the demographics and, as the respondents were self-selecting, the views expressed are highly unlikely to be a representative sample of Islanders.’
While the panel said that its ability to scrutinise had been constrained by the ‘political timeline’ for the project, Senator Le Fondré said that a ‘clinical timeline’ was driving the project, based on a ‘tipping point’ in 2026, beyond which he said there would be major challenges in safely maintaining the existing hospital.
Responding to criticism that the project team had failed to follow best-practice guidance, as outlined in the UK Treasury’s ‘Green Book’, the Chief Minister said this was ‘largely based on a misunderstanding of the process of the project’.
Senator Le Fondré said the panel had not shown sufficient regard to Jersey’s ‘island context’, adding: ‘We have only one hospital and certain services must be provided so that we do not compromise care quality and safety, and to ensure we do not have to send more patients off-Island for their treatment.’
The panel found that the outline business case for the project did not demonstrate alignment with key strategic programmes, such as the Jersey Care Model, but this was also rejected by the Chief Minister, who said it represented a misunderstanding of the proposed care model.
‘The hospital has been designed with flexible interior spaces so that it can accommodate various care models that may emerge over the lifespan of the building,’ he said.
Senator Le Fondré said he wished to acknowledge ‘the work of the Scrutiny panel and their advisers in providing challenge to ministers, the Political Oversight Group and the project team for what is the largest capital project in a generation’.
Ministers’ proposed funding plans for the £804 million project were backed by the States Assembly last month, while a planning application for the hospital is expected to be lodged later this month.
