Tuesday 10 December 2024
Select a region
News

Les Q could be a mini-hospital for 25 years... for an extra £2m

Les Q could be a mini-hospital for 25 years... for an extra £2m

Tuesday 01 November 2022

Les Q could be a mini-hospital for 25 years... for an extra £2m

Tuesday 01 November 2022


The former Les Quennevais School will become a hospital 'satellite' site for the next quarter of a century, if the recommendations of the Infrastructure Minister's review are accepted.

Currently, the former school, which sits on the edge of the Clos des Sables housing estate, is being converted into a temporary hospital under plans proposed under the previous Our Hospital plans.

The plan was to move most services currently being provided at Overdale to Les Quennevais while the former is demolished and a new hospital is built.

That is still the plan but, under the recommendations announced by Infrastructure Minister Tom Binet following a £30,000 review, the former school will stay a hospital for a lot longer, becoming a key facility in the ‘multi-site’ option proposed by the St. Saviour Deputy and his review team.

Although the details of what goes there are yet to be determined, Deputy Binet told the Assembly on Wednesday that the cost of converting the school was £13m and for an additional £2m, the once-temporary hospital could be made to last 25 years.

“This is a recommendation, and it is up to for the Assembly to decide if it is accepted or not. Furthermore, it might be worth considering that £13m has been spent there and if a bulldozer goes in there in five years’ time, we have to consider the value for money that we have got for that spend. 

Pictured: Residents of Clos des Sables and Les Quennevais Park could have a hospital on their doorstep for a lot longer than anticipated.

“For the cost of about £2m more, that site will be made valuable to its new purpose for about 25-plus years. I think that is a point worth considering in terms of value for taxpayers’ money.”

The former school is currently surrounded by hoarding while contractor Rok makes significant changes to the internal structure of the buildings. 

Although the fate of the former school has not been set after its five years as a hospital, the site has been earmarked for housing.

In the States this morning, St. Brelade Deputy Montfort Tadier raised concerns that residents in the area had not been consulted. However, Deputy Binet stressed that it was a recommendation of the review at this stage and consultation would follow.

The approved plans for Les Quennevais include the creation of two access roads for homes off Clos des Sables.

141 parking spaces will be available, as it is planned the former playground will be turned into parking spaces, with a car park reserved for staff to be accessed from Clos des Sables.

Services that were due to move to Les Quennevais from Overdale include:

  • Child Development Treatment Centre
  • Physiotherapy
  • Occupational Therapy
  • Speech and Language Therapy
  • Dietetics 
  • Psychology
  • Older people’s mental health
  • Pain Clinic
  • Pre-operative assessment
  • Outpatient departments of neurology, rheumatology and urology 
  • Podiatry
  • The audiology department currently at Overdale, including the hearing support centre

Express will be releasing a special edition email tonight explaining the findings of the review in-depth, and what happens next... Sign up to our free daily news email here to make sure you don't miss it.

READ MORE...

Our Hospital(s)? Gov review proposes multi-site solution

Sign up to newsletter

 

Comments

Comments on this story express the views of the commentator only, not Bailiwick Publishing. We are unable to guarantee the accuracy of any of those comments.

You have landed on the Bailiwick Express website, however it appears you are based in . Would you like to stay on the site, or visit the site?