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<\/p>\nThe Gibraltar Health Authority will purchase the Rooke modular building and turn it into a\u00a0publicly-run\u00a0elderly residential and nursing care facility, with residents from Mount Alvernia, as well as long-stay patients at St Bernard\u2019s Hospital and those in Cochrane Ward, expected to move there before the end of the year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Minister for Health, Care and Business, Gemma Arias-Vasquez, and the Director General of the GHA, Dr Paul Bosio, announced the decision at a press conference on Tuesday after meetings with staff,\u00a0patients\u00a0and relatives.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Rooke facility has 170 rooms and capacity for 218 residents, with more than 200 people potentially moving into the building once the transfer is completed, freeing up acute hospital beds and reducing overall running costs for elderly care.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The purchase price has not yet been\u00a0disclosed\u00a0because financing arrangements with a commercial bank in Gibraltar are still being finalised, although Mrs Arias-Vasquez said the construction cost had previously been put at around \u00a338m.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The final purchase price will also include the cost of fitting out the building and interest incurred during its development.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know the figure, but we\u2019d rather the lending be completely finalised before we actually announce a figure,\u201d Mrs Arias-Vasquez adding, adding that further details would be made public later this month.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The building will be bought from Rooke Holdings Limited, allowing repayment of financing initially provided through the Gibraltar Savings Bank to private entities linked to the company.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The GHA expects to use around \u00a35m a year currently\u00a0allocated\u00a0to repayments on the financing of St Bernard\u2019s Hospital to service the new borrowing once the existing hospital arrangement ends this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mrs Arias-Vasquez stressed that the new facility would not be privatised and that existing GHA staff from Mount Alvernia and Cochrane Ward would transfer to the Rooke.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The announcement was welcomed by Unite the Union, whose officials were briefed by the Government and the GHA earlier on Tuesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The union said employees had been told the move would\u00a0largely amount\u00a0to a change of workplace, with further commitments given on filling vacancies within ERS.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is really positive news and demonstrates an on-going commitment to maintaining public services and ensuring that\u00a0these stay\u00a0rooted where they belong, in the public sector,\u201d said Stuart Davies, Unite\u2019s national officer for Gibraltar.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were a number of rumours and concerns that an announcement could have involved a private provider which would have been highly problematic so this significant commitment to and investment in the public sector is very welcome.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere will undoubtedly be teething problems and issues that need to be worked through.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cUnite will be engaging with our members and the GHA to resolve any issues or concerns that arise, but broadly speaking the move to a new, modern facility will be positive for members, residents and their families.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cA number of reassuring commitments were received in our initial meeting and whilst the union recognises that there will be concerns and anxieties within the membership, we are confident that we will be able to work through these successfully via the regular and planned consultation with the employer.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
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PROJECT DELAYS\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Rooke facility was initially announced in\u00a0June,\u00a02020, and used Chinese modular construction methods that, at the outset, were expected to significantly increase ease and speed of construction.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But the project ran into problems,\u00a0delays\u00a0and mounting costs until its completion late last year, when it obtained its final certificates of safety.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The facility, originally expected to be completed by 2023, was first intended to be privately\u00a0operated\u00a0and has been the subject of persistent Opposition scrutiny on transparency of financing and operational arrangements, and its impact on existing ERS residents.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As recently as January this year, Rooke Holdings Ltd invited expressions of interest from private operators for the running of the facility and, at the time, Mrs Arias-Vasquez assured Parliament that \u201cno resident of Mount Alvernia or any Elderly Residential Service facility will ever be compelled to leave their home against their wishes\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But responding to questions during the press conference, Mrs Arias-Vasquez dismissed any suggestion that it had proved a messy project.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s a construction project, and in all my experience with construction projects, and I’ve had significant experience in my previous life, every construction project comes up against obstacles, especially when you throw in a pandemic and everything else,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Asked whether that assessment applied even to a modular development intended to simplify and accelerate construction, Mrs Arias-Vasquez said both public and private projects had experienced delays during the same period.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She focused instead on the finished facility and the response from patients\u2019 relatives who had visited it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think there might have been delays, but the finish is absolutely fantastic,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The original plan had been for the Rooke to be privately\u00a0operated, with the GHA effectively paying a private provider for elderly care.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dr Bosio said an options appraisal carried out after he took up the post of Director General late last January had instead led him to recommend that the GHA should\u00a0operate\u00a0the facility itself.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He said the assessment considered financial, clinical, staffing, industrial\u00a0relations\u00a0and long-term resilience issues, including the difficulty of transferring experienced public-sector staff to a private operator, which would\u00a0likely have\u00a0created significant practical and industrial relations issues.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHaving appraised what the GHA actually had, putting all of this in place and having a resilient solution for the population of Gibraltar, it was my recommendation that the GHA could and should do this for a number of practical reasons,\u201d Dr Bosio said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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CLINICAL BENEFITS\u00a0<\/p>\n
From a clinical perspective, Dr Bosio said bringing elderly residential and nursing care into one building under the GHA would allow standards to be\u00a0monitored\u00a0and developed as part of the authority\u2019s wider work.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have now a purpose-built, state-of-the-art facility which meets all the requirements, and as the minister said, as much as Mount Alvernia fulfilled an amazing function for Gibraltar and has a legacy for Gibraltar for many years, we had to move on,\u201d Dr Bosio said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As a clinician himself, Dr Bosio was clear the new Rooke facility would enable the GHA to \u201ctake residential and nursing care to a different level\u201d,\u00a0not least because a lot of the facilities, amenities and space available at Rooke \u201csimply are not there\u201d in current facilities.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mrs Arias-Vasquez and Dr Bosio took reporters on a tour of the building, which is equipped with spacious, airy rooms filled with natural light and large common areas with views of the bay, as well as nursing stations on each floor, a\u00a0fully-fitted\u00a0commercial-scale kitchen and a large outdoor terrace that will be developed with greenery and amenities for the residents.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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A key factor too is that the Rooke facility is centrally\u00a0located, making it easier for relatives to visit\u00a0frequently\u00a0and help\u00a0maintain\u00a0cognitive functions crucial in elderly care.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you think about the facilities that are on offer, if you think about the location, if you think about the quality of life that this is going to offer, simply based on location if nothing else, you have a facility for elderly care that’s right beside the hospital, you have a facility that’s right in the centre of town where you can go take out your relatives to parks and \u2013 the Director General doesn\u2019t like me saying this \u2013 churros again,\u201d Mrs Arias-Vasquez said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She added: \u201cAs far as the GHA and the ERS are concerned, we have a fantastic product which we’re offering free to users for the benefit of families in Gibraltar, in a central location at a time when, globally, elderly residential care is under intense scrutiny and intense private costs.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we’re able to offer, in my view, is groundbreaking and I am very proud that this Government is doing that.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
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LOGISTICAL CHALLENGE\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dr Bosio acknowledged transferring residents would be a major logistical operation involving more than 310\u00a0staff, but\u00a0added that the GHA was confident the move could be completed before the end of 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The transfer will include 129 residents currently at Mount Alvernia, residents from Cochrane Ward and long-stay patients at St Bernard\u2019s who are waiting for free capacity at Elderly Residential Services.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dr Bosio said around 85 patients were currently waiting at St Bernard\u2019s for elderly care, occupying close to half the hospital\u2019s adult acute bed capacity.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Moving them into the Rooke facility would therefore release acute hospital beds while reducing costs.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He estimated the new facility would cost around 25% less to run than the GHA currently spends across its Elderly Residential Services sites, largely because residents and staff would be brought together on one site and because acute hospital beds are significantly more expensive.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dr Bosio said the GHA expected the cost of care at the Rooke facility to work out at around \u00a390,000 per bed each year, slightly higher than the cost charged by some existing private providers in Gibraltar.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He attributed that difference to the more complex needs of the patients who would be cared for there, with fewer than 10% of the elderly patients currently waiting for residential care fully independent.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Rooke facility will provide both residential and nursing care rather than standard residential care alone.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dr Bosio added that, when compared with the cost of similar levels of care in the UK, the projected figure was \u201cin the same ballpark\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s cheaper for the GHA to put them in a residential and nursing environment, and it\u2019s also better for the patient,\u201d Mrs Arias-Vasquez added.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe patient and the future resident should not be in an acute medical setting.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to get the patients out of the acute medical setting as quickly as possible, so it’s more beneficial for the resident to be in a nursing or care home than it is for them to be in the hospital setting.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Residents at Mount Alvernia will be asked individually whether they wish to move and Mrs Arias-Vasquez said the Government expected the vast majority, \u201cif not all\u201d,\u00a0to agree.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She pointed to positive feedback from residents and their relatives who had already visited the new building.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But she acknowledged too that Mount\u00a0Alvernia\u00a0and the Rooke facility could not be\u00a0operated\u00a0simultaneously if some residents decided not to transfer.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe conclusion is that we’ll look for what options are available, so we’ll look to see what we can do,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt depends on the numbers that\u00a0we’re\u00a0talking about, so if\u00a0we’re\u00a0talking about minimal numbers,\u00a0we’ll\u00a0have to look at other options. We\u00a0won’t\u00a0be able to run the two concurrently.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dr Bosio said contingency arrangements could involve transitional care elsewhere,\u00a0most likely at\u00a0St Bernard\u2019s Hospital, but he did not expect those plans would be\u00a0required.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It is not clear at this stage what will happen to Mount Alvernia after the move.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The building is owned by the trustees of the John Mackintosh Trust and Mrs Arias-Vasquez said discussions with the trustees would take place once the immediate focus on residents and their transfer had been addressed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis isn’t about real estate, this is about the residents,\u201d Mrs Arias-Vasquez said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The new Rooke facility is expected to be close to capacity immediately, but Dr Bosio said the move would form part of a wider strategy aimed at helping people remain independent and at home for as long as possible against the background of increased longevity and an ageing population.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think what we need to plan is an integrated model of care that takes through not just institutional care, for which this is going to really tick the box, but actually addresses all the other things that we talked about,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Public open days at the Rooke are planned for next Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, with the Government encouraging people to visit the facility before the first residents move in later this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Gibraltar Health Authority will purchase the Rooke modular building and turn it into a\u00a0publicly-run\u00a0elderly residential and nursing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":757981,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[102,2960,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-757980","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-health","tag-healthcare","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/757980","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=757980"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/757980\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/757981"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=757980"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=757980"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=757980"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}