Gov confirms move of rehab ward to St Helier care home

Thursday 08 February 2024

A rehabilitation ward situated at Overdale will be relocated to a St Helier care home whilst the demolition of the old hospital and the construction of a new one progresses.

Infrastructure Minister Andy Jehan has formally advised States Members that the Government intends relocate the 16-bed Samarès Ward to part of St Ewold’s Residential Care Home for up to nine years while work progresses on delivering new healthcare facilities for the island.

The St Ewold's care home has 20 bedrooms which all have a single ensuite toilet and shower room, as well as access to dedicated gardens, patient dining, activity and sitting rooms, parking spaces, and a staff room and office spaces.

Pictured: A patient room at Samarès Ward.

The relocation, according to the Government, is a "key enabling move" to allow for full demolition to take place at Overdale where the new acute hospital will be constructed, as proposed in the New Healthcare Facilities Programme.

It was decided in September that the Samarès rehabilitation ward – the subject of controversy when it was closed and facilities moved to the General Hospital before the decision was reversed – would remain at Overdale until further studies were completed and alternative facilities were identified.

Pictured: St Ewold's Care Home. (Peter Mourant)

In December, work to demolish dilapidated and unused buildings at Overdale began.

Health Minister Tom Binet, who was Infrastructure Minister at the time, said he was "hopeful" that the construction of the new acute hospital would begin in 2025, if the States Assembly backs the New Healthcare Facilities Programme.

The Our Hospital scheme was abandoned in 2022 after a review, led by Deputy Binet, found the proposals for a single-site hospital at Overdale were no longer achievable within the £804.5 million of funding approved by the previous States Assembly.

The Government is instead seeking to build healthcare facilities over several locations, including Overdale, Kensington Place and the current Gloucester Street site.