Politicians vote for £804.5m Jersey Hospital budget

Proposals to cap the cost of Jersey's new hospital at £550m have been rejected by politicians.

States Assembly members instead voted to approve the full £804.5m budget for the facility at Overdale in St Helier on Thursday.

The amendment to reduce the proposed cost by £250m, tabled by the Future Hospital Review Panel, was rejected by 26 votes to 22.

Discussions of how to fund the hospital have been ongoing since Tuesday.

The Our Hospital project to expand the existing site of Overdale facility was approved in principle in November last year.

The project was amended in September to reduce the height of the facility following a consultation with medical professionals and the public.

The plans will see £756m of the £804.5m funded through borrowing, placing the money in Jersey's strategic reserve.

Ministers claim this fund is currently enjoying returns of 8.1% and say interest can be used to service the debt.

In September, more than 40 medical professionals in Jersey called on the assembly to back the Government of Jersey's plans.

Health Minister Richard Renouf argued reducing the budget would cause patient care and staff wellbeing to "suffer".

He said: "A project with a cap of £550m is a very different scheme to the project developed over the last few years.

"Even if we manage to retain the design team the advice is it's a further 18 months to two years to redesign, to get back to the point where we now are."

On Tuesday dozens of protesters gathered outside the Royal Court in St Helier to express their objection to the planned cost and borrowing

The scrutiny panel behind the unsuccessful amendment claimed the government's proposals were "full of holes" and based on "inadequate information".

Its chairwoman, Senator Kristina Moore, said: "The purpose of this amendment is not to stop this project - we all want to deliver a hospital, and in good time.

"It is simply to put this project back on track as it is off the rails."

The plans aim to have the hospital open by 2026.

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