Alderney’s Connaught Care Home needs urgent work carried out after stricter regulations were brought in while it was being built.
The extension has not yet been occupied despite the building work finishing during the summer after it was confirmed that fire regulations introduced in 2023 hadn’t been factored in to the work.
The long awaited new care home has been beset with problems including financial with covid and Brexit both blamed for costs increasing after the designs had been drawn up and approved in 2019.
Work on the Connaught Care Home extension started in 2021, with the new rooms said to be ready for residents by summer 2023, but the delays mean they still aren’t in use.
An open day was held in July so people in Alderney could see the new facilities and it was said at the time that people would soon be moving in.
A spokesperson for the States of Alderney said that on completion of the building work to the 2019 approved design criteria, the Connaught Board commissioned an external company to review various aspects of the build.
Much of this work concerned new fire regulations that came into force in 2023 following a review of the Grenfell Tower fire and its implications for new buildings. The reports also recommend some minor improvements to meet the requirements for care homes.
As “a responsible landlord”, the General Services Committee said it has reviewed the reports and drawn up a new schedule of works to get the additional work done, so the care home can open to residents.
Once that work has been signed off by the Building Control Officer it will then need to be checked by the Care Home Inspector from Health and Social Care in Guernsey.
Chair of the General Services Committee, Iain MacFarlane, said it’s recognised that there is an increased need in the community for beds and all efforts are being made to have the new care home ready this December.
“Members of our community will be disappointed that the Connaught Extension is still not finished, especially after achieving Project Completion in the summer. But we are responsible landlords and in light of the recent information being provided, we want to make sure that we provide a building that is fit for purpose, fully compliant and will obtain a Building Completion Certificate. We are working at pace to get this work finished to the right standard as quickly as possible.”
The Connaught’s Operations Executive Director, Liz Bowskill, said: “We are pleased about how positively the States of Alderney have taken the recommendations to improve fire safety in the building and we can’t wait to be able to open our doors to new residents in the new year – hopefully we’re on the home stretch!”
When the Connaught opens, some residents will move from the Jubilee so that work can begin on repairing the Jubilee roof.