UK firm reviewing overbudget hospital project

Earlier this year HSC revealed the extension project was expected to cost £30m more than originally budgeted

The overbudget £120m project to extend Guernsey's hospital will be looked at by external consultants.

It follows Health and Social Care's (HSC) revelation earlier this year that the project to extend the hospital could go £30m over budget.

Cambridge-based project management consultants Northmores have been appointed to look at the costs.

Concerns were raised by politicians that officials from the hospital modernisation project had concealed the potential overspend.

In March, HSC President Deputy Al Brouard said his committee only found out about the revised estimates for the project on 19 December 2023 and that "any staff who were aware of this information are no longer employed by the States of Guernsey".

He also said the committee would now go through a process to see whether the project could be brought back under budget.

A spokesperson for HSC said: "The cost estimate for phase two has resulted in the hospital modernisation team working with Northmores which is conducting an extensive value engineering exercise.

"This work has been taking place since early July and work continues."

HSC has not put a timescale on how long this project will take and has not been able to provide an estimate on how much it will cost.

Mr Brouard has said if the project ended up coming in over the budget already approved after this exercise, the committee would return to the States.

Earlier this year the head of the public service, Mark De Garis, announced a review of how big spending projects like this one were managed by the States.

That report from Martin Thornton KC is set to be published in the next few months.

What does this phase of the hospital extension project include?

Phase 2 of the HSC's hospital modernisation project includes:

• A new children's ward and paediatric unit

• Four new operating theatres

• A new private ward to accommodate day case patients

• A 21 bed orthopaedic unit

• A new main entrance