Plans to include a minor operating theatre in a newly-refurbished female ward had to be abandoned due to ventilation constraints in the ageing General Hospital, it has emerged.
An update on the Rayner Ward refurbishment was provided at a recent scrutiny hearing dedicated to women’s health matters.
The General Hospital ward is currently being refurbished and is expected to reopen in October.
It is due to become a dedicated women’s health area, incorporating breast and gynaecological services.
But plans to incorporate a minor operations theatre in the refurbishment had to be abandoned due to ventilation constraints in the General Hospital building.
Caroline Jenkins, the Chief of Service for the Women’s and Children’s Care Group, explained: “We were planning on putting a minor ops suite into the end of Rayner Ward so that we could have one whole area for colposcopies and outpatient hysteroscopies.
“But we cannot do that because of the age of the building.
“It’s in the old granite block, and we cannot get the ventilation that we need when we’re dealing with colposcopy patients.
“So that [operating] suite will remain where it is – which is in the Day Surgery unit.”
Ms Jenkins added that the outpatient area is being completely refurbished to include four clinic rooms for general outpatients, gynaecological outpatients, gnecologic-oncology patients, and early pregnancy assessments.
“All of our clinics will happen there,” she explained.
“And then what used to be Rayner Ward – which is the far end of the Surgical Floor – will become a women’s area.”
Jersey’s dedicated gynaecology ward was first introduced in 1991 to ensure that those who required hospitalisation for issues such as abortions and miscarriages were cared for with the required sensitivity and privacy.
But shortly before the pandemic, Rayner Ward was merged with Portelet Ward to become the ‘Surgical Floor’ – a 26-bed general surgery ward treating patients across a range of specialities, including gastrointestinal, dental, urology, breast, maxillofacial, gynaecology, and ear, nose and throat.
Among those to decry the “lost” ward was Neil MacLachlan MBE – a Consultant Obstetrician-Gynecologist for the States of Jersey for over 30 years – who shared concerns about the ability to provide “sensitive care” in what he described as a “suboptimal environment”, as Express reported last year.
He later praised the planned re-opening of Rayner Ward as “wonderful news”.
Mr MacLachlan MBE said: “It is therefore heartening to hear that the HSC will be reopening Rayner Ward which will facilitate patient-centred care, and I sincerely hope that this will allow both medical and nursing teams the chance to recreate the teamwork that this ward once had.
“The management of early pregnancy loss and many other sensitive female health issues deserves an especially sensitive environment, and we owe it to all our women and staff to have this precious resource back again.”
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