Call for hospital building work to begin this year

Call for hospital building work to begin this year

Dr Andrew Mitchell, the Hospital’s consultant cardiologist, said there was no time for fresh debates, external reviews and more consultants, and finding a solution to the ongoing hospital saga had to be made a priority.

And he called for strong leadership to finally achieve a resolution to an issue that has been delayed for far too long.

Dr Mitchell spoke out after Environment Minister John Young rejected the latest application for the new hospital on the current site and Chief Minister John Le Fondré halted all work on the project until further notice.

Within hours of the decision by the Environment Minister, Deputy Russell Labey lodged a proposition calling for the States to ditch the plans for a rebuild on the current site and write off the estimated £38 million spent on the project so far.

The issue has been put at the top of the agenda for tomorrow’s Council of Ministers’ meeting. WED

Dr Mitchell – who is the second consultant to speak out this week after colorectal surgeon Dr Miklos Kassai called for a referendum on the hospital site – said the Island needed action immediately. ‘We need strong leadership now to make a decision about the where and the when,’ he said. ‘No more debates. No more external reviews. No more external consultants. No more Scrutiny panels. No more independent planning inspectors. The review work has been done. Prioritise this. Make a decision this week, not next week.

‘Align the government Planning Department so that they approve the plans that the government has drawn up. Change the planning laws if you have to to make it happen. Take the responsibility that the positions you chose to apply for comes with.

‘For the sake of the people of Jersey and the staff in the Hospital that keeps everyone alive and well, ensure that we start building this year.’

The Environment Minister rejected the plans after UK planning inspector Philip Staddon, who carried out a review of the proposals, found that the hospital would be too large for the restricted Gloucester Street site and would lead to unreasonable harm to residential amenities and the living conditions of nearby residents.

The decision came almost a year to the day after the initial application was rejected by the then-Environment Minister, Deputy Steve Luce, who received the first critical report from Mr Staddon, who raised concerns about the size and scale of the proposed building.

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