THE Health Minister has tasked her department to ensure temperatures in the Hospital are ‘routinely’ recorded and monitored, after a JEP freedom of information request revealed this had not happened during this summer’s record-breaking conditions.
Deputy Karen Wilson made the commitment after the FoI confirmed that the temperature of wards was not recorded and there was no central record of site temperatures. She said it was a reminder of the need for new healthcare facilities.
Deputy Wilson said: ‘Clearly the current hospital was designed at a time without the benefit of a modern ventilation system, which is now an essential requirement for modern healthcare facilities.’
Royal College of Nursing senior officer Sam Crooks previously raised concerns that the summer was ‘no doubt incredibly difficult’ for nursing staff and patients, as Jersey recorded its highest-ever temperature of 37.9°C and records were also broken in the UK.
The failure to record the temperature inside the Hospital was also criticised by politicians. Health Scrutiny chair Deputy Geoff Southern said it was a ‘poor way to treat patients and staff’, while Deputy Lyndon Farnham, who before the general election in June held political responsibility for the project to build Jersey’s new hospital, said that the current Hospital building was inadequate in many respects.
Deputy Wilson said: ‘As we all know, the environmental conditions at the Hospital for patients and staff are not optimal, which is why the development of new facilities is at a critical point now.
‘Due to the conditions at the Hospital, and potentially in other areas of the healthcare estate, there are no doubt staff and patients experiencing temperatures in clinical environments that are uncomfortable to work in and to be cared for in.’
She added: ‘When temperatures increase, mobile ventilation units in the clinical area do help to alleviate the impact, but using these units is not ideal.
‘Looking forwards we want to create clinical environments that are comfortable to work in and conducive to wellbeing and recovery, and the sooner we can start the work to create these modern clinical environments the better.
‘In the meantime, I welcome the issue being raised and have asked officers to ensure we are routinely recording and monitoring temperatures in our clinical environments so that we can be proactive and respond to the situation.
‘We must do all that we can to mitigate the issue given the conditions of the current Hospital and make the clinical environment workable for staff and comfortable for patients.’
Deputy Wilson also said the ‘fabric of the Hospital’ was in an ‘appalling state’ and staff were working in ‘unacceptable’ conditions, when she appeared before the Health and Social Security Scrutiny Panel earlier this week.
Addressing the panel on £5 million of government funding for capital project health-service improvements, Deputy Wilson said: ‘I’m really concerned about the state of the Hospital, very concerned about it.
‘I think the £5m probably will scratch the surface.
‘From what I’m seeing, and I’ve done a review, I’ve walked round the hospital and the condition of the fabric of the Hospital is in an appalling state, and obviously the things that concern me are about the way in which the fabric of the building inhibits the ability to provide privacy and dignity – and to make sure that you’ve got the right temperature control.
‘The staff are working in conditions that I would consider unacceptable and actually unhealthy for some of the patients who are being cared for in that.
‘But I think there is a backlog maintenance programme and I think with £5m, [we] will just about manage to address the basics.’
