An “interim” solution… in 2013
The modular operating theatres were first approved in 2013 to span the “10-year time-frame that will cover the period until the anticipated major project for a new hospital facility for Jersey is realised” – but, as new health facilities are still yet to be built, the Government is seeking approval that would allow the units to remain in place for another decade.
When the initial planning application to build the operating theatres was submitted in 2013, then-Treasury and Resources Assistant Minister Deputy Eddie Noel described it as “an interim solution for operating theatres”.
However, the revised planning application – dated 22 February 2023 – explained that that the Health management team “realise the need to extend the life of the modular theatres for a further 10 years” due to the “the new long-term plan for our new hospital still [being] at a very early stage”.
Demand for planned surgery “growing”
The accompanying statement said that “the demands on the [Health] service for planned surgery are growing”, and explained that that allowing the temporary operating theatres to remain is “necessary to maintain capacity in order to meet the demands, and maintain or reduce waiting times”.
When planning permission was first received in 2013, the two modular operating theatres were built in the Gloucester Street Car Park. This took the hospital’s theatre provision from a total of four operating theatres to six.
The project was phased, with the creation of these two modular operating theatres in the Gloucester Street Car Park being the first phase.
Once this was completed, the second phase – which involved the refurbishment of the original four operating theatres – began.
The two new modular theatres created the flexibility and capacity to allow for Theatres 1 and 2 to be refurbished first. Theatres 3 and 4 were in turn refurbished, and the works were completed in 2016.
The theatre provision upgrades also allowed the Maternity service to be refurbished and developed.
Temporary theatres must be removed by 2023 2033
The original planning application was approved on the condition that the development “shall be removed from the site and the land restored to its former use on or before the 14th November 2023”.
The new planning permission stipulates that the “temporary” operating theatres “shall be removed and the land restored to its former condition on or before 14 November 2033 in accordance with a scheme of work submitted to and approved by the Chief Officer”.
Looking ahead to the Government’s ‘New Healthcare Facilities’ programme, the feasibility study outlines plans for five inpatient operating theatres at the Overdale site, as well as two day case operating theatres and two minor surgery operating theatres at the outpatient site at Kensington Place.