LAB workers have criticised the government’s ‘arrogant’ multi-site hospital plan, expressing fears of duplication, issues transporting samples between sites, and potential recruitment difficulties.
The views were collected at a pop-up stall at the General Hospital’s staff canteen, as part of an ongoing review of the decision to scrap plans for a single-site hospital at Overdale.
The New Healthcare Facilities Plan now proposes a multi-site plan, with an acute (inpatient) facility, an ambulatory (outpatient) facility and a ‘Health Village’ at St Saviour.
However, healthcare employees who operate in the Hospital’s pathology labs have said that ‘two sites would not work in Jersey’.
There was uncertainty about how it would work, with one asking: ‘Where would the lab be located or would there be more than one? Where would it go?’
Another asked: ‘Where would the blood bank be? Blood donors would come in to the cold site, but the requirement is at the acute site.’
Several were concerned about duplicating their services across two sites, with one saying: ‘Jersey is too small and it is arrogant to think that this will work for us. We will have duplication of services.’
‘From our perspective, duplication of services is mad,’ added another.
Feedback also related to a potential difficulty recruiting enough staff for both labs if there were two. One of the comments said: ‘There are pieces of equipment that are very expensive, which will need to be in one place but then staff will be in various locations.’
A further complaint concerned how to transport samples between two sites, with one saying: ‘Can’t transport things like highly infectious diseases throughout the Island between labs.’
‘With strict quality standards to adhere to,’ another added, ‘the plan opens up a world of pain to us.’
A lab worker spoke to the JEP, saying that the recent comments ‘definitely fit with the general consensus’ among fellow employees.
She added: ‘We’re struggling to see how multiple sites would work. We can’t staff duplicated sites, as stated in the comments.’
In a response from the government, Infrastructure Minister Tom Binet said that while they were ‘committed’ to consulting with as many Islanders as possible, ‘everyone must understand that we cannot achieve the impossible and, as such, not everybody will be fully content with the direction of travel’.
He added: ‘We understand that some staff will still want a single-site hospital.
‘However, there are also many staff who understand that this is not deliverable or affordable for the Island, and are supportive of a multi-site solution.’
