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The Critical Care Unit at the PEH will be completely replaced, if a planning application for the first phase of the site's modernisation is approved.
The first phase of the programme, which could cost up to £44m, is due to start in 2021 and take about seven years over three phases.
"There's an awful lot of work going to hit the site," said Director of Hospital Modernisation, Jan Coleman. "But we don’t want a new hospital like Jersey, we’ve got areas that are really fit for purpose. We’ve expanded our hospital and we’ve done different extensions, so we don’t want to waste taxpayers’ money, we want to use it appropriately.
"It’s going to take about seven years because we have to move A to B to put B in C etc, and we’ve got to maintain business as usual. What we don’t want to do is rush too quickly and affect how the hospital functions, so it’s all about planning."
Phase One will focus on the Critical Care Unit, which will be completely replaced and improved.
Pictured: Phase One of the hospital modernisation.
"We currently have seven beds, which is not sufficient," Ms Coleman explained. "We’re now building a unit that’s got 12 and has also got an extension for another four. We’ve got two single rooms that could also be converted to bedrooms.
"All of the layout will be single bedrooms because, when you’re in critical care you’re usually very ill, and what we have at the moment is open space. The feedback we get is that patients do not experience well in there. What we need to do is treat them appropriately but give them the best experience possible.
"There will be an inner courtyard which will be sealed off so that, if you’re a low level patient, they can push you out for a bit of fresh air to improve your recovery and to help you get to the ward quicker."
The first phase will also bring changes to the relatives accommodation, to ensure there is a comfortable space for those with family members in CCU to stay if they want to.
"We've got UK healthcare designers and architects who just build hospitals," Ms Coleman continued. "We will use local construction companies but we need the experts to make sure we're building right, because health can't be built like an office block."
Pictured: The highlighted area is where the Phase One work will take place.
The work on Phase One is due to begin in the middle of next year and be completed by the end of 2022, when Phase Two can begin.
In the second phase, a new entrance will be built outside the current main entrance, along with extensions on either side.
"The issue we have with the hospital at the moment is that you can’t find your way around the property because it’s on a slope," Ms Coleman said. "This will resolve that.
"We’re going to direct as many as possible through this main entrance. We will have some retail, we will have open space, we’ll have a cafe and it will have a whole lovely feel to it.
"We’ll have a staircase up to level two and then we’ll have level three joining up. Our art coordinator is going to work heavily with us to ensure the art flows you through the floors as well, so you can easily find where you are."
Just inside the entrance will be an area dedicated to outpatients, who just visit the hospital for appointments. 
Pictured: The main entrance will be extended in the second phase.
"At the moment if you’re going for an outpatient appointment you’re here, you’re there, you’re everywhere," Ms Coleman added. "You’ve got speech and language, dietician, dermatology - they’re all over the property and you can’t find them.
"What we’re going to do is have a main entrance extension called Ambulatory Care. So you’ll come in here if you have an outpatient appointment, there’s automatic checkins or reception and then you will have your appointment in clinic space which will be shared depending on what’s happening that day.
"This is what the nurses are asking us for because it’s easier for people to find, it’s right by the main entrance and it’s much easier to flow, because at the moment they wander round lost."
On the left side of the entrance will be a theatre extension, which will bring all of the theatres together, rather than have two in a separate day patient area. The extension will also include two brand new theatres and a discharge lounge.
"On the ward, if they say you’re ready to go home - that’s usually about 10:00 but sometimes it takes till 16:00 before family can pick you up," Ms Coleman explained. "You then go into a discharge lounge with a nice comfortable chair where you can have something to eat and drink before pick up. That also means the beds flow better, which means we can get more patients through the system. We’re trying to be as economic as well, to spend taxpayers’ money most appropriately."
On the right of the entrance will be another extension split over three floors: paediatrics, maternity and private.
Pictured: Director of Hospital Modernisation, Jan Coleman.
"In paediatrics we’ll have single rooms and they’ll have an art change, so depending on the age you can flick a computer and it will suit appropriately," Ms Coleman continued. "They’ll have their own room and they can design it as they want.
"We’re also having an outpatient facility on the front end of both [the maternity and paediatrics] wards, because if you’re going for a minor procedure or check either as a child or a pregnant woman, at the moment you’re in the ward, so you’re stressed and in a ward environment. This means the same team can look after you, but it can be done in an outpatient facility so you’re more relaxed.
"We’ll have a special care baby unit adjacent to maternity and there’s a private staircase between the two, so these units work now as a women’s and children’s unit."
On the top floor, HSC is looking to build a ward which resembles one of the UK's private hospitals.
"We’re not looking for a two-tier medical system, I emphasise that, but we have people on the island with private medical insurance and they do not use it because the condition of our private ward is tired," Ms Coleman said. "They don’t want to use it and insurance companies will offer them money not to use it.
Pictured: The third phase will focus on orthopaedics and the Emergency Department.
"The income from private subsidises our revenue, so we need to be using it."
Plans for Phase Three haven't been completely confirmed yet, but will include changes to the Orthopaedics Department and the Emergency Department.
The current walking entrance to ED will remain the same, but the ambulance entrance will move so it will no longer be obstructed by patients going to radiology or the fracture clinic. The new entrance will also be closer to Resus, which is moving so it's closer to the CCU.
"We're playing about with [Phase Three] at the moment and every time we meet we keep tweaking things around," Ms Coleman added. "The idea is to get what we want in the right place for the flow."
HSC is planning on holding informative events for members of the public at Beau Sejour next month, so people can learn more about the changes and how they will affect the hospital experience.
Pictured top: A 3D visualisation of the new Critical Care Unit.
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