Delays hit hyperbaric chamber plans

Monday 17 December 2018

Local divers risk being driven round the ‘bends’ after it was revealed that a new hyperbaric chamber to service Jersey and Guernsey will not open before the end of this year as planned.

Guernsey's Committee for Health and Social Care (HSC) said in June that the £340,000 facility would be up and running before the end of 2018, giving the island its own facility for treating decompression sickness for the first time in four years.

The decision followed the closure of Jersey’s own facility over summer after the States’ funding was withdrawn.

But the opening of a new Guernsey facility could give local divers an alternative option.

Pictured: The planning application submitted by HSC.

It was originally planned to open in the final quarter of this year, but Planning Permission, which is required to carry out the work to install the chamber, next to Guernsey Hospital’s Emergency Department, was only applied for last week. 

Jersey’s neighbouring island’s existing chamber is currently being rented, with HSC passing on the costs of using it to any patients. For a diver suffering from the bends, this can represents a bill of up to £30,000 for treatment.

When the plans to buy the new hyperbaric chamber were announced, a spokesperson for HSC said it would be accompanied by a change in the charging policy.

“The decision to purchase a hyperbaric chamber rather than continue to rent the facility has enabled HSC to significantly review its charging policy for future users of the chamber and reflect the fact that rental costs will no longer have to be recovered,” they explained.

Pictured: Some people have had to pay £30,000 to get their hyperbaric treatment.

"The new charging structure, which Members have decided shall be effective from 1 June 2018 for treatments using the hyperbaric chamber uses our established Emergency Department (ED) charges."

Under the new system, service users who need treatment for suspected decompression sickness will be charged an ED attendance fee along with a critical care charge of £340 for the care and treatment provided to them by the ED team. The use of the hyperbaric chamber will be charged at an additional £200 per hour for each hour of treatment provided.

This could mean that patients pay as little as £595 per episode, compared to the current £30,000, which isn't always covered by insurance.