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More good quality housing is needed to avoid health service cuts, Deputy Marc Leadbeater has said as he argues in favour of building on a field at the hospital.
Policy & Resources has submitted an application for outline permission to build a three- and four-storey building to provide 66 units of key worker accommodation on land adjacent to the Duchess of Kent House at the PEH.
Two more phases could follow and some deputies have been rallying opposition to the proposal.
Deputy Leadbeater is a member of Health & Social Care which is working with P&R on the plan.
“That piece of land was bought by the States in 1936 to be used as part of our hospital campus. Its strategic importance in terms of its location within our hospital grounds must not be overlooked,” said Deputy Leadbeater in response to a Facebook post opposing the scheme by Deputy Steve Falla.
He said there were no brownfield sites available on the Princess Elizabeth Hospital campus.
Pictured: a plan of how the housing development could take shape.
“Sitting on HSC, I am acutely aware of the massive challenge we are experiencing trying to recruit and retain the key staff we need to run our hospital and wider healthcare services, and feedback from our staff tells us that quality accommodation on-site, such as John Henry Court and Beauville, are crucial if we are to be successful in attracting and retaining the staff we need,” he added.
“Do we want to continue to have to cut services like we had to do recently with domiciliary care? No we certainly don’t, and in order to be able to continue providing the service levels we currently do and to reinstate those such as in domiciliary care, we need lots more good quality housing for the staff needed to do so.”
He argued that the other sites that are available should be used for health key workers that did not need to be very close to the PEH.
The development proposed was “sympathetic to the area” and retained the 140 year old tree, he said.
“Our hospital is growing, we’re currently in the first year of a 10 year modernisation programme at the PEH which will see its capacity grow to enable us to work towards eliminating waiting lists and continue to provide the first class healthcare that our brilliant staff currently do, but the reality is that we simply will not be able to adequately staff the facility without the accommodation that those key staff need,” said Deputy Leadbeater.
“We cannot have one without the other - a growing hospital needs a growing cohort of key staff.’
He said he would be more than willing to meet anyone to discuss the issue.
Former Health & Social Care President, Deputy Heidi Soulsby also responded to Deputy Falla’s post.
Pictured: Deputy Heidi Soulsby.
She also opposes the planning application.
‘The idea that this will mean more staff coming here is at best optimistic given we're not alone in struggling to find qualified health and care workers. The application is for bedsits and one bedroom flats. This is unlikely to attract permanent qualified staff. More likely it will be used for agency nurses.”
Planning policies would normally rule out building on green field sites, but a lawful route could be found to build key worker housing on green fields at the Hospital if it is classed as ‘development of strategic importance’.
The Development & Planning Authority is considering calls to extend the consultation period on the plans after concerns were raised that it covered the holiday period.
The application can be viewed at gov.gg/liveplanningapplications.
Its reference number is OP/2022/2321 and the address for the application is Le Bordage Seath, Rue Mignot, Le Vauquiedor, St Andrew’s.
To find out more about the planning process, you can watch a video at gov.gg/planningandbuilding.
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