Nightingale hospital decision process (FOI)

Request

Jersey’s Nightingale Hospital

The Decision Process

A

What political body discussed and took the decision to construct a Nightingale Hospital at Millbrook?

B

Did the whole Council of Ministers vote on the proposal and, if so, what was the vote in favour and against?

C

Why was Scrutiny not involved, followed by the States Assembly being recalled to debate and vote on the proposal?

D

Was the Bailiff involved in the decision making process, including it not going in front of the States Assembly?

Planning

E

How was planning consent gained?

F

What specific reasons were there for it not going to a public panel?

Site Selection

G

The RJ&HS was and is available, together with two large halls, existing toilet facilities, access to all services, plenty of parking and a large, grassed area where the facility could be extended, if necessary. Why was this site dismissed?

H

The Millbrook field belongs to the Boots family. Why is the hospital not being called the Florence Boot Hospital, thus relating it to Jersey, rather than the UK?

I

Why was the location chosen for construction in a potentially muddy field with no services immediately available and no car parking?

J

Will car parking be available?

The Construction Decision

The J3 consortium was involved in the failed Future Hospital project and received a substantial pay off in March 2019 following the cancellation of the project on 14th February 2019.

K

What was the bidding process that led to the Nightingale Hospital contract being given to the J3 consortium?

L

Was it a single source contract, or were there other bids? If so by whom and how many?

M

 Was this an open bid, or an agreed fixed price contract.

N

Who is responsible for quality control of the temporary hospital?

O

Who is the accountable officer leading on the contract.

P

Which Department has overall responsibility for the construction of the hospital, its operation, the running costs and for its eventual demolition and removal from the Millbrook site? If it is HCS, specifically who is overseeing and managing both the contract for its construction and the operation of the hospital?

Response

The Decision Process

A

The decision to proceed with the new Nightingale Hospital was agreed by the Competent Authority Ministers, and subsequently ratified by the Emergencies Council on 8 April. The Council of Ministers collectively also endorsed those recommendations and agreed to proceed on 8 April 2020.

B

See question A response above.

C

Scrutiny was not involved due to the timescales required to make the decision. There was no requirement for the States Assembly to make this decision.

D

The Bailiff attended the Emergencies Council who ratified this decision on the 8th April.

Planning

E

There is no specific planning application / consent for this proposal. The Planning and Building (General Development) Jersey Order 2011 has been modified as a result of the Covid 19 pandemic to include permitted development for facilities, such as the Nightingale Hospital, which are required in order to respond to emergency situations.

F

Planning permission was not required due to the emergency nature of the development.

Site Selection

G

There are a number of medical reasons as to why the decision was made to discount the facility at RJ&HS. The site is not large enough internally to accommodate all the requirements for a COVID facility. In addition, governance arrangements differ from that of the UK, in terms of staffing, where they are being set up as separate facilities. In Jersey the Nightingale Wing will operate as an adjunct to the main hospital, so needs to be located within close proximity to the Main Hospital to enable flexibility of staff movement between the two operations, as and when required. The distance between the General Hospital and the RJ&HS would not support these governance and staffing arrangements. Additionally, the site is also too far away from the General Hospital for it to be successfully serviced by Jersey Ambulance Service as an overflow facility.

H

The project’s working title is the Nightingale Hospital, due to the design of the facility. This is not UK specific, but is specific to the nature of the nursing approach provided in a Nightingale Wing based on the ward arrangements.

I 

The site was chosen due to its size availability, its proximity to the General Hospital and other utility infrastructure services, and it was a cleared and flat site.

J

Parking will be available for staff only in the public bays on The Avenue. There will be limited parking on site.

K

There was no bidding process for this contract. Due to the emergency nature of the project, a decision was made to use a range of contractors already on the island.

L

See question 'K' response. Additionally, the contract is on a cost reimbursement basis split into separate work packages.

M

This is a NEC3 Main Option E contract in which the contractor is reimbursed the actual costs they incur in carrying out the works, based on actual orders placed. The oversight of costs is both reconciled and controlled by the Government of Jersey through an Independent Project Team and not the contractor.

N

The quality control of the proposal sits with the Regulation Team – Building Control in Growth Housing and Environment (GHE). Quality of operational services will sit with Health and Community Services.

O

The build contract is the responsibility of the Acting Director General for GHE.

P

GHE is responsible for the oversight of the construction and commissioning of the facility and subsequently for site reinstatement. When operational it will be the responsibility of Health and Community Services as it will form part of the General Hospital and be managed under those arrangements.