JERSEY may not be able to afford to build and operate its new hospital and healthcare centres, a damning report into the project has claimed.
Published today, the report casts serious doubts over the short- and long-term financing of the project, with financial oversight labelled “very weak and limited”.
The Hospital Review Panel, chaired by Deputy Jonathan Renouf, has published its report following its review of the government’s New Healthcare Facilities Programme, which involves building over several sites.
This includes the Island’s new £710 million hospital at Overdale, for which a planning application was approved last week.
Outlining the panel’s analysis, Deputy Renouf said the outline business case for the programme “does not come close to meeting the standard that Islanders have a right to expect for the largest capital project in the Island’s history”.
Concerns raised include the ongoing revenue costs of running the new healthcare facilities, which Deputy Renouf said “seem to have been considerably understated”.
“Particularly, for example, the staff costs of a larger hospital. This calls into question the long-term affordability of the Island’s future health estate,” he continued.
Deputy Renouf also argued there was “no reconciliation between the designs for the new hospital at Overdale and the expected capital cost of the building, which means it is impossible to tell if the new acute hospital can be built within the funding envelope”.
Additional areas of concern included a need for more detail regarding other aspects of the programme, such as plans for a health village in St Saviour and a new ambulatory care facility at Kensington Place.
“Treasury oversight of the entire NHFP appears to be weak, with very limited internal challenge to the hospital team,” Deputy Renouf added.
“It should not be left to a Scrutiny panel to expose fundamental weaknesses in the business case for the new healthcare facilities.
“There is a lack of transparency in the approach to the NHFP which means that it is impossible for the panel, the States or Islanders to properly examine and understand the implications of what is being proposed.”
