After Breast Cancer (ABC) Support Group and present and former patients hit out at the Health Department last week for having removed the option to stay at Jury’s Inn hotel in January this year, where they previously enjoyed daily meals and a bedroom maid service.

Islanders were instead told that they would have to stay in self-catered two-bedroom apartments in Southampton’s Ocean Village marina complex – a decision allegedly taken without consultation with charities.

Cheryle Raphael from ABC told Express that patients – many of whom had flown over for radiotherapy – had shown strong opposition to the change due to having to buy, prepare and cook their own food when in a “vulnerable” state, as well as highlighting cleanliness, infection control and privacy concerns due to having to share the space with another patient and potentially their family. 

More former patients have since raised their voices in support of Jury’s Inn, but the Health Department has now defended the accommodation change, stating that they were acting on feedback and had modelled it on another successful scheme already implemented in the UK.

Jurys Inn Southampton

Pictured: Jury’s Inn, where patients travelling from Jersey for treatment in Southampton used to reside. (Photo: Google Maps)

A spokesperson told Express: “The changes to accommodation arrangements in Southampton were introduced at the start of 2017 as a result of feedback from patients and the successful implementation of a similar scheme for patients using Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge. We are encouraging feedback from patients who have used the new apartments since January and have had a range of comments.”

Despite this, they said they were monitoring both criticism and praise of the Ocean Village apartments, and had already acted on concerns:

“Some suggestions have already been fed back to our accommodation provider and changes made as a result, for example having a greater availability of twin beds, designating two of the smaller bedrooms as being for single occupancy only and providing enhanced literature for patients giving details of the facilities.

“All feedback, whether positive or negative, is being monitored as we move through the one-year pilot scheme, and there is also an opportunity to raise any ‘house-keeping’ issues directly with the accommodation provider in order that they can be swiftly resolved.”