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A long-awaited new £7.3 million acute adult mental health facility is finally set to open by the end of June after being pushed back eight times from its original target date two years ago.
Mental Health Director Andy Weir told the Health Scrutiny Panel last week that the renovated facility at Clinique Pinel in St Saviour is now complete.
He said that the final delay was caused by the installation of incorrect fire doors that had to be replaced.
Mr Weir said: "The fire doors that were purchased were the incorrect doors, and which resulted in a significant fire risk in the building, so we couldn't safely open it to patients. That work has now been completed.
"The building has been handed back in its entirety to us, and I currently anticipate that we will move in the last week of this month."
Pictured: Clinique Pinel would replace Orchard House and provide 26 new ensuite bedrooms and other facilities.
The Clinique Pinel redevelopment project will replace the outdated Orchard House, providing 26 new ensuite bedrooms and other updated facilities.
The project, which came in the wake of a critical mental health service review, was first launched in 2020.
It was originally due for completion at the end of January 2022, but has since been plagued by delays.
It was firstly pushed back until March 2022, with Ministers blaming bad weather delaying construction, then until April, and then until September as an apparent result of labour shortages due to a 'building boom'.
In November 2022, then-Health Minister Karen Wilson confirmed that the £7.3m project to redevelop Clinique Pinel was not expected to be complete until March 2023.
By April 2023, the new facility had still not opened and the move-in date was once again pushed back to July.
Pictured: Andy Weir, Director of Mental Health and Adult Social Care.
In December 2023, it emerged that completion of the facility was delayed a sixth time until January 2024.
Clinique Pinel was still not open by March 2024, and the move into the facility was rescheduled until the end of April.
It was confirmed this week that the facility will finally open by the end of June.
A key component of the new £7.3 million site is the 'Article 36 suite' - described as a "place of safety" for islanders detained by the police under Jersey's Mental Health Law during mental health crises.
Currently, such individuals are often taken to police stations or the emergency department instead.
The Article 36 suite aims to provide a more appropriate "place of safety" where people can be held for up to 72 hours to receive crisis care and assessments.
Pictured: The new Article 36 suite is now due to open following the move of Orchard House to Clinique Pinel at the end of June.
It is planned that a senior nurse will be on duty around-the-clock at Clinique Pinel to supervise this suite.
The long-awaited mental health facility upgrade comes as Jersey Police have adopted a new approach to mental health incidents over the past year where officers are no longer routinely being sent to mental health incidents unless there is a risk to life or a crime being committed.
Instead, when concerns are raised by the public, risk assessments determine whether there is a need to send police officers or not
This new model, mirroring efforts in England and Wales, has helped reduce police mental health callouts in Jersey by 33% from 2022 to 2023 according to Police Chief Robin Smith.
He praised the "genuine collaboration" with Mental Health Director Weir's team enabling officers to refocus on core policing duties.
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