Guernsey‘s Health and Social Care (HSC) committee have abandoned plans to extend and modernise the island’s hospital, after concluding the programme is “now unaffordable”.
Phase 2 of the Hospital Modernisation Programme – which involved building new operating theatres, expanding surgical capacity, and updating maternity facilities – was approved by the States Assembly in October 2023 with a budget of £120 million.
However, the latest cost estimate for ‘Phase 2A’ alone totaled £273 million.
HSC attribute this dramatic rise to inflation, rising construction and procurement costs, and a more comprehensive understanding of the complexity of the plans.
So far, £5.9 million has been spent on Phase 2 – something HSC insist is not a waste, but “will inform future health and care infrastructure planning”.
HSC have also announced they will not proceed with the second phase of their project to digitise patient records – instead transferring all outstanding work to the States’ Digital & Technology team.
Phase 1 of the modernisation project – which includes the new Critical Care Unit at the Princess Elizabeth Hospital – will still be completed.
However estimated costs for this are now nearly £40 million and the new units are not expected to open until the middle of 2027.
President of HSC Deputy George Oswald said: “we have made what I consider to be the entirely appropriate decision to stop.
“We must recognise the need for investment in the HSC estate because of increasing demands […] however these changes must be commensurate with the needs of the island and delivered cost effectively.
“Continuing [with Phase 2] is unaffordable and it would not be responsible to continue investing in the development of a proposal that cannot realistically be delivered.
He adds that, going forwards, his Committee does not want to pursue “‘big bang’ programmes with a wide array of elements'”, and instead develop more specific strategies for tackling some of the island’s complex health service problems.
“We hope that by taking this targeted approach, we will be able to address issues like the continuing need for additional theatre capacity and general investment in healthcare infrastructure in a much faster and more cost-effective way.”
However, the Committee’s current projections indicate that healthcare costs will increase by approximately £5 million a year if nothing changes.
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