Select a region
Designers of the new hospital say that it is likely that the Crematorium and Jersey Water’s headquarters will move from Westmount.
The revelation came from Rob Etchell, Director of Lead Designers Llewelyn Davies, during a presentation of the latest concept designs to nearby residents.
“The crematorium is on the other side of the boundary, with its own entrance. There will be activity there, 24/7 (at the A&E entrance). The ambulances won’t be firing up their sirens or blue light, once they get up the road, so I don’t think it’s going to affect people who are, perhaps, coming out and standing outside the crematorium. But also, we’re putting a lot of landscaping buffering between the hospital and the crematorium as well, to try and create that buffer," he commented.
"But also the reality is, there is a probably a high chance that that crematorium won’t be there on the day the hospital opens, but that gift isn’t in our remit at the moment. That is something else that is being talked about. But we are making sure that if it did stay, that we’d be great neighbours to it.”
It was also explained during the meeting that administration staff - once set to have their own block on the northern field east of Westmount Road - would now work within the main building.
The large rectangular building, which will stretch from the eastern edge of the current Westmount Road to the edge of the wooded valley above George V Cottage Homes, will be around 20m high at its highest point.
At the Westmount Road end, it will be two clinical storeys high, which equate to around 10 metres, and it will be three clinical storeys – around 15m - at its western end, although the impact will not be as great as the land slopes downhill here.
Pictured: All existing buildings on the Overdale site are due to be demolished.
More details of the internal design have also been shared. These include the hospital having a distinct women and children’s centre, a 30-bed private ward, and renal and chemotherapy departments positioned to give patients views over St. Aubin’s Bay.
The hospital has been designed to be ‘pandemic ready’, with very little mixing on inpatient and outpatient activity, and the flexibility to run a self-contained ‘hospital within a hospital’ to keep any virus-related patients and staff away from non-virus-related individuals.
Administration staff – once set to have their own block in ‘Field 1550’ to the north-east of Overdale – have been brought back into the main hospital.
This will include the pharmacy; pathology; the kitchens, which are coming back into the hospital and will supply freshly cooked food to patients; an equipment library; the mortuary; IT services; a energy centre - which stretches out from the main building and tucks behind the crematorium; support services; a staff wellbeing centre and engineering.
The main entrance to the hospital, off a realigned Westmount Road; a secondary entrance on the south-western corner for patient transport service drop-offs; a secure 24/7 lift for the women and children’s centre; the main outpatients department; a 28-bed observation acute care ward for monitoring of inpatients; separate access for the chemo and renal departments which are located on higher floor; A&E, which will have its own access to the north and radiology. There will be a separate staff entrance which takes them straight to staff change.
There will be a main boulevard running through the middle of ground floor. At the western end, with views over the valley and bay, will be another staff wellbeing area and a public restaurant.
Theatres, which be situated directly above A&E; critical care and endoscopy, which work closely with theatres. To the south-west will be the new self-contained women and children’s centre, which will include paediatrics, maternity, SCBU, delivery suites, antenatal wards and some maternity outpatient activity. The renal department will be at the far western end with views over the south-west coastline and the park that will be built to support the hospital.
Plant room directly above the theatres, mostly for air handling; one 28-bed inpatient ward: this will comprise of two four-bed wards and the rest with be single en-suite bedrooms, including two isolation rooms.
There will also be a 30-bed private patient unit, with its own outpatient facility embedded in it and its own access from the ground floor. The room sizes within the private patient unit will be exactly the same as within a standard inpatient ward, with the only difference being the level of finish. The idea of having a separate private patient unit is a) to allow the hospital to generate revenue, and b) if there is another pandemic, to run it as another separate ‘hospital within a hospital’.
Pictured: Designers want take advantage of the views and nature at the western end of the Overdale site.
At the western end, with its views over the bay, will be oncology and chemotherapy. Like renal below it, it will have its own separate access for patients, and views for people sitting for extended periods of time while they receive treatment.
The second floor is the start of a large central courtyard that cascades up through the building.
Four 28-bed inpatient wards, with the same set-up as the lower public ward: two four-bed wards and the rest with be single en-suite bedrooms, including two isolation rooms. The wards will have 360-degree views over Jersey.
Plant and administration. The current plan is to locate admin on the top floor; however, the space could be turned into another 28-bed ward or more renal or outpatients services - whatever is needed in the next 50-75 years.
More detail will be released at the end of this month, when the concept design process is completed. The final design is due to be unveiled in October and it is hoped a planning application will be submitted in November. If approval is given by next spring, building should start at the beginning of 2023 to finish in December 2025. There will then be a a year of commissioning, with the hospital fully operational by December 2026.
Comments
Comments on this story express the views of the commentator only, not Bailiwick Publishing. We are unable to guarantee the accuracy of any of those comments.