Venturini4Jersey

30/09/2022

𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐄𝐗𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐄𝐗𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐓 𝐓𝐎 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐇𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐈𝐓𝐀𝐋 𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖

The announcement by the Minister for Infrastructure, Deputy Tom Binet, that Mr Alan Moore has been appointed as the Principal Expert Advisor on the review of Our Hospital project comes as a surprise for several reasons.

1. It comes less than a month before the review of the new hospital is due on 20th October. According to the government website the scope of the review is to see whether there is a more affordable and more "appropriate" alternative to the present plans as approved by the previous government. That's a tough job if Mr Moore has to deliver the report by 20th October.

https://www.gov.je/Health/OurHospital/Pages/OurHospitalReview2022Scope.aspx

2. The initial announcement contained almost no details about Mr Alan Moore and his experience, It was left to the Bailiwick Express to dig out more information (see link below). We gather he is an expert in health care in Northern Ireland. However according to the official government communication he is unknown to the Island's CEO, Suzanne Wiley and his expertise in Jersey so far as been "providing advice to the Department of Infrastructure Housing and the Environment on how to improve its project team." Nothing was said about his experience in the healthcare field in Jersey.

3. We do not know how much Mr Moore, referred to throughout the government communication as Alan, is being paid for the job.

We do at least know that the Principal Expert was with Deputy Binet when he went to look at hospitals in Northern Ireland several weeks ago.

Why Northern Ireland? Perhaps because of Mr Moore's expertise in Northern Ireland? Or perhaps because as the Friends of Our New Hospital pointed out in a FB post last November the Spanish construction company FCC, which was (perhaps still is?) a partner with ROK to build the new hospital in Jersey, constructed a hospital in Enniskillien a decade ago.

It is a 65,000m2 acute hospital with 344 beds, many more than the one that will be built at Overdale. It cost £276 million. Admittedly that was 10 years ago (the Friends FB post was written when inflation was not rising at the speed it is now). And yes the Enniskillen hospital was built on flat land and not on the top of a hill like Overdale. And yes, we do understand that Jersey is a special case. But over double the price for a hospital which will have far fewer beds than the one in Enniskillen makes an interesting comparison.

https://www.bailiwickexpress.com/jsy/news/minister-appoints-expert-help-hospital-review/

The new Infrastructure Minister has recruited an Expert Adviser to support his review into whether changes can be made to the Our Hospital project to make it cheaper and more "appropriate".

12/09/2022

𝐇𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐈𝐓𝐀𝐋 𝐇𝐈𝐓𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐏𝐎𝐓𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐀𝐆𝐀𝐈𝐍

Last week Dr Ng, a leading consultant at the hospital, expressed his opinion that it is a "travesty" that the present plans for the new hospital have been abandoned. His views, expressed in the Jersey Evening Post, came as a reaction to the opinion expressed by the new Minister for Infrastructure, Tom Binet, that the new hospital plans are no longer viable. Dr Ng, or someone close to him, now thinks that he has been told to keep his opinions to himself.

The Minister for Infrastructure, Tom Binet, has openly denied that he or any other minister has told the consultant to shut up, although he does admit that Dr Ng was "invited" to a meeting.

https://edition.pagesuite.com/infinity/article_popover_share.aspx?guid=7f1dd72f-e3c2-4d6f-9b56-3177519e5788

Clearly both sides have a different opinion of what they think has happened.

None of this helps an objective and independent review on what should happen (or should not happen) to the existing plans for the new hospital at Overdale. These plans were officially signed off by the previous Minister for Planning and the Environment before he left office and after the results of an independent inquiry. Presumably this decision is still the last official document about the new hospital, until the new Assembly has its say.

The plans are now under an "independent" review, led by Tom Binet. The results of the review are due at the end of October. Maybe it would be a good idea if both sides now keep quiet until the review is openly available for us all, including the new Assembly, to read and debate.

08/09/2022

𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐔𝐋𝐒𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐏𝐔𝐑𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐒𝐄 𝐀𝐋𝐎𝐍𝐆 𝐖𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐌𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐓 𝐑𝐎𝐀𝐃 𝐎𝐍 𝐇𝐎𝐋𝐃

It's good news to read an article in the Jersey Evening Post this morning that compulsory purchase of property around Westmount Road, supposedly needed for the new hospital at Overdale, has been paused until the government decides what next for those hospital plans. Much of that property, along the People's Park, the Bowling Club and up Westmount Road, belongs to the Parish of St Helier.

https://edition.pagesuite.com/infinity/article_popover_share.aspx?guid=bb4d27a7-7677-42b3-a183-734eca296d46

St Helier has been powerful enough, and has enough political clout, to have resisted the temptation to sell out to the States and to fight compulsory purchase orders instead.

However most of the private property owners around Overdale couldn't afford the cost of fighting a compulsory purchase order so reluctantly decided to sell. One of the them has called the handover of her house a "forced" sale. She has been under pressure from the States' agents to sell since September 2020, two months before the Assembly voted Overdale as the new hospital site. She is at present under order to leave tomorrow, but has asked for clarification, now that the new hospital plans are under review.

Asked whether she would want to stay even now, she said that she really didn't know. She loves her house where she is still camping in one room even though she has now bought elsewhere. But after two years of uncertainty it now needs extensive maintenance.

Most of the home owners accepted to sell and move on rather than face a long and expensive fight against compulsory purchase. Some of them, such as the owners of the two fields opposite the Overdale site and the little cottage between the Crematorium and Overdale, sold out happily. But most of them did not.

The States now own a large swathe of land at the top of Westmount Road. There are three houses at the top of Westmount Road on the right, in the Hillcrest complex. There is another at the end of the cul-de-sac opposite (bought to make way for the new hospital drains). There are two fields opposite Overdale. There is the whole of the terrace off Westmount Road opposite the Crematorium (which was never in the original plans for Overdale passed by the States in November 2020). Then there is the remodernised Thorpe Cottage between the Crematorium and Overdale, plus the headquarters of Jersey Water.

How much has all this cost, how much is all this land and property worth now? And what will become of all those empty houses? The original idea was to demolish them to make way for the hospital, at a time of a housing crisis in the island. One of the saddest experience of the weeks I spent walking Westmount in January 2021 and 2022 was the sight of abandoned houses and overground gardens. Will they still be demolished or will the States just sell them on?

The Bridging Island Plan will probably come into play once a decision has been made on the existing new hospital. If it is not used for the new hospital it could be used for other medical facilities. And an additional amendment to CI3 in the Bridging Island Plan reads "Proposals for the alternative use of land designated as part of the ‘Our Hospital development site’ will not be supported, except where it can be demonstrated that the site, or any part of it, is no longer required to support the delivery of Our Hospital.

That leaves plenty of options open.

https://www.gov.je/PlanningBuilding/LawsRegs/IslandPlan/Pages/BridgingIslandPlan.aspx

06/09/2022

𝐀 𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐇𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐈𝐓𝐀𝐋 𝐈𝐒 𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐋𝐋 𝐀 𝐋𝐎𝐍𝐆 𝐖𝐀𝐘 𝐎𝐅𝐅

Yes we are delighted that the ill-thought-out and unrealistically expensive plans for the new hospital at Overdale have hit a brick wall. But let's be level headed and objective for a moment and reflect on what still lies ahead.

Opposition was bound to come to the announcement by the Minister for Infrastructure at the end of last week that he was scrapping existing plans for the new hospital. And it did, almost immediately, from Lyndon Farnham, the head of the old government's new hospital project. His reactions were predictable: It is dangerous to delay any further, the new Minister for Infrastructure doesn't know what he is talking about, he is going against a democratic vote in the Assembly, the review of the hospital project is meant to be independent but the Minister has already made up his mind.

Then there are those consultants (40 we were told) who were in favour of the new hospital plans. Today they have gone public under the headlines in the Jersey Evening Post "Abandoned hospital plans, a "travesty".

https://edition.pagesuite.com/infinity/article_popover_share.aspx?guid=5aa972e0-c663-4bd0-bffd-c2bfae6c2703

And don't forget Reform. Probably most people have forgotten what Reform said about the new hospital project in its election manifesto. How many people read it anyway? But this morning we have a timely Tweet from Sam Mezec to remind us. To quote from part of it:
'We do not regard the Overdale site as being ideal. But rather than committing to spend tens of millions of pounds on consultants to restart the new hospital project for the third time (as some people are proposing) we will instead focus on delivering healthcare services, getting the waiting lists down and supporting our healthcare professionals"

When all is said and done healthcare is more important than buildings. It is therefore a pity that the new Minister for Health, Karen Wilson, was not around to deliver this message at the same time as the Minister for Infrastructure, Tom Binet, announced that he will be scrapping the previous government's hospital plans.

The review now has until the end of October to report. The following is a list of just some of the hurdles ahead, whatever the review's findings may be.

1. The new Minister for Infrastructure has left himself open to attack for giving his opinion before publishing the results of the review. Can the review now be independent?

2. Previous plans for the new hospital at Overdale have been approved, admittedly unwisely, by the previous Minister for Planning and the Environment. How to backtrack on this decision?

3. A decision against the demolition of buildings at Overdale is still outstanding, along with an appeal lodged against it. How will this unfold?

4. Plans have been presented to the Planning Department to move the Bowling Club from Westmount Road, where it would have been in the way for the proposed new road to the new hospital. Do these still stand, and who pays for these?

5. How much is it costing Andium to put its plans for apartments in Kensington Place, near the General Hospital, on hold? And who will pay for this?

6. What about the plans for a new medical centre at the Old School at Les Quennevais, to take the health services relocated from Overdale , supposedly when all buildings on the Overdale site are demolished? And if they are no longer demolished? What happens then?

It is also worth remembering that a member of Reform heads the Health Scrutiny Panel, and that the Constable of Trinity who was/is a member of the Alliance group, many of whose members led the old government, is back again as head of the Planning Committee.

We should not be shouting "Victory" yet.

01/09/2022

𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐆𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐍𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐒𝐂𝐑𝐀𝐏𝐒 𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐎𝐔𝐒 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐒 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐇𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐈𝐓𝐀𝐋 𝐀𝐓 𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐃𝐀𝐋𝐄

The new Minister for Infrastructure, Tom Binet, announced on ITV Channel News this evening that "there is no choice but to turn our backs on the new hospital project in its current form because it is too big and too expensive and the situation is too volatile and the funding mechanism is broken. So those things set the ground rules for this review."

We now know that the plans as set out for a 70,000 sqm new hospital at Overdale, put forward by the last government and approved by the then Planning Committee, are dead in the water.

The ground rules for the review, which is being undertaken by the Minister for Infrastructure, will now have to look at new possibilities. What will these include?

It has been known for a long time that the option most favoured by Kristina Moore, before she became Chief Minister, was for a two-site option, at Overdale and Gloucester Street.

This would include scaling back the previous government's massive and controversial plans at Overdale, and remodernising and maybe extending, facilities at Gloucester Street.

https://www.itv.com/news/channel/2022-09-01/gloucester-street-reconsidered-as-site-for-jerseys-new-hospital

01/09/2022

𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐇𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐈𝐓𝐀𝐋 𝐍𝐄𝐖𝐒

Two pieces of news this morning spell good news for the new hospital plans and Jersey's health service in general.

The Jersey Evening Post has published a front page report under the headline "Work on flats is stopped to keep hospital options open." The 100 new flats in question are in Kensington Place where the Revere and Stafford Hotel once stood.

This space backs onto the hospital in Gloucester Road and if work on flats there is now on hold it could mean that modifications and renovations to the General Hospital are now under serious consideration. This in turn could mean that a two-site option for the new hospital is now on the cards; a smaller scaled down version of the controversial plans at Overdale that were approved by the previous government, plus other services to be retained at a renovated General Hospital. This is the two-site option known to favoured by the Chief Minister Kristina Moore.

A review into the costs and plans for new hospital passed by the previous government, where everything would be sited at Overdale, is now in progress and is due to report back in October.

The second piece of good news this morning is a Tweet from Kristina Moore that work will soon begin on the long-empty Westaway Court to make 59 units "safe and habitable for health workers.

It has been known for a while that one of the problems facing recruitment of health staff is the availability of suitable accommodation. Westaway Court an ideal solution.

https://edition.pagesuite.com/infinity/article_popover_share.aspx?guid=fc1e8626-4aed-4f1c-a95d-969d8038a423

27/08/2022

𝐄𝐍𝐕𝐈𝐑𝐎𝐍𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐋 𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐈𝐓𝐘 𝐋𝐀𝐔𝐍𝐂𝐇

A new environmental group launches at the Trinity Scarecrow Festival on 28th August.

You will be able to find the ET scarecrows just off Rue des Ifs. Turn down Rue Becq and that's where you will find the four scarecrows of the ET family, made completely out of recycled material.

Environmental Trinity encourages participation at a local level to address the three planetary crises of climate change, nature and biodiversity loss, and pollution and waste, as defined by UNEP (The United Nations Environment Programme), by:

1. grassroots action for climate change
2. education about nature and biodiversity
3. community against pollution and waste

The group, and fb page, is open not only to those who live, work or have close connections in Trinity, but also to those who appreciate the significance of this large rural parish to Jersey's environment as a whole.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/environmentaltrinity

26/08/2022

𝐀 𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐋𝐓𝐇 𝐑𝐄𝐏𝐎𝐑𝐓 𝐓𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐒 𝐔𝐒 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐖𝐄 𝐊𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐀𝐋𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐘

Did we really need to spend £85,250 on another report to tell us that the hospital is unsafe?

We already knew that from patients, patients' relations, nurses and doctors, so why spend time and money on something we already knew?

And did we really need to go to experts in the UK to find this out? Professor Hugo Mascie-Taylor, who is responsible for the report, has served on "major health reviews in the UK and around the world."

According to Wikipedia, which quotes a UK government report: "As of 2015, Mascie-Taylor was paid a salary of between £195,000 and £199,999 by Monitor, making him one of the 328 most highly paid people in the British public sector at that time." Again according to Wikipedia, Monitor was an executive body responsible between 2004 and 2016 for ensuring healthcare in the NHS was financially effective.

So why has this new government been so slow to publish the report? Professor Mascie-Taylor's findings are dated 16th July 2022 and here we are over a month later on 26 August.

Who does the commissioning of such expensive reports? How long does it take to study them? And who does the studying before it gets to the minister? Civil servants?

If this new government is counting down its first 100 days set by the Chief Minister, maybe the civil servants will need a push in the right direction too.

https://www.gov.je/government/pages/statesreports.aspx?reportid=5594

Photo: Professor Mascie-Taylor (right) with Robin Swann, Northern Ireland Minister for Health.

24/08/2022

WALKING JERSEY'S RAMSAR SITE

Have you ever heard the sound of limpets, or seen them slide across a rock? Or discovered how barnacles reproduce? Or seen kelp when it is still clinging to a rock rather than lying lifeless in bundles on the beach? Or faced the tentacles of invasive Japanese seaweed or seen where sea grass struggles to survive? Then explore Jersey's Ramsar site, but not without a guide. The area is treacherous terrain and never more so than when the tides are running fast.

Lou Wagstaffe took me out to the Karame Beacon way beyond Seymour Tower a couple of Sundays ago at one of the lowest tides of the year. It's not an easy walk but worth every bit of the 4-hour adventure. Lou has planned the next one for the low tide on 13th September. She's a wonderful guide, with extensive knowledge of the marine life along the way as well as the history of the area. Nor does she leave anything to chance, (her alarm goes off to mark the turning of the tide) so you feel perfectly safe in her hands.

I haven't done her nighttime Bioluminescence walk (28th August starts at 00.30 and another on 23rd September) but anyone who has seen the sea and rock pools glow at night with the light given off by marine creatures says it's not to be missed.
https://m.facebook.com/Intertidal-Walks-103139782161082/

23/08/2022

𝐂𝐎𝐎𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐒𝐎𝐂𝐈𝐄𝐓𝐘 𝐈𝐍𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐓𝐎 𝐇𝐄𝐋𝐏 𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐈𝐒𝐌

Dim lights, no music or tannoy announcements and handouts to help you find your way around the store are just some of the initiatives that the COOP has introduced in their supermarkets in St Helier and St Peter's on Monday afternoons. The Quiet Hour is organised in conjunction with Autism Jersey and with the National Autistic Society.

It's a great idea and anyone who has been in the supermarkets during the Quiet Hour has really noticed the difference and appreciated it.

But sadly there isn't enough publicity to tell us what's going on. I only heard about it through friends. And even more to the point the official COOP publicity has the timings wrong. It's not 3.00-4.00 right now. It's 4.00-5.00, at least it is at St Peter's.

When I got to the St Peter's COOP at 3.00 yesterday everything was as usual. So I looked for signs to check the times or to tell me more. There weren't any. I asked a member of staff but she didn't know what I was talking about. So she went to ask a colleague. He didn't know either. So he went to find his supervisor. She was very apologetic and said that the timings for dimming the lights have been an hour out since the change to British Summer Time. So 3.00 really means 4.00.

I didn't have time to stay around until 4.00 but I shall try again next week. My feedback, for what it's worth, is that it's a great idea for us all, not just for those on the autistic spectrum. And friends say the same.

Even handouts for the layout of the store would save both customers and staff enormous time and stress. So please COOP, extend the hours, make more of the publicity and signage but above all get the timings right.

https://www.channelislands.coop/je/campaigns/quiet-hour/

22/08/2022

𝐋𝐄𝐒 𝐐𝐔𝐄𝐍𝐍𝐄𝐕𝐀𝐈𝐒 𝐒𝐂𝐇𝐎𝐎𝐋 𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐆𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐃𝐄𝐒𝐈𝐆𝐍 𝐃𝐈𝐃𝐍'𝐓 𝐈𝐍𝐂𝐋𝐔𝐃𝐄 𝐀𝐈𝐑 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐃𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆

If the air conditioning system at Les Quennevais School was not included in the original design for the building, as reported in an article in the Jersey Evening Post today, who added it to the design? Who signed off the building? And who will now pay for remodelling and repairing the system in the school?

According to an official answer from the Minister for Infrastructure, Tom Binet, as the air conditioning was not part of the original design there is no recourse to the contractor, ROK.

The school, which has been widely praised, cost £40 million and was only opened two years ago. The air conditioning system first proved inadequate during a hot spell last September, then in July this year students had to be sent home because conditions inside the school were unbearably hot. The air conditioning was not working and the windows are not designed to open.

Again according to the JEP article the building has been constructed according to best-practice specifications but it appears that there are no maximum temperatures for classrooms under UK regulations.

There may not be any specifications but somewhere along the line someone in Jersey thought it was a good idea to add air conditioning to the original design. Who was responsible for this decision and according to what standards? Jersey Property Holdings, was responsible for the project, so Jersey Property Holdings must know the answers.

Jersey Property Holdings is now trying to rectify the air conditioning problem. But the consignment of new units was held up in the spring by the war between Russia and Ukraine.

However it is difficult to believe that the units themselves are the solution to a problem which is clearly more to do with design, maximised to use natural light rather than shield the building from heat, than the hardware itself.

This may have started as a local problem for Les Quennevais School but it now looks as though it is one which will involve design and building specifications throughout the island. Maximising natural light under normal conditions sounds like a good idea, but in times of climate change?

https://jerseyeveningpost.com/news/2022/08/22/overheated-school-operated-within-design-parameters/

18/08/2022

𝐉𝐄𝐏 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐁𝐀𝐈𝐋𝐈𝐖𝐈𝐂𝐊 𝐄𝐗𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐒 𝐓𝐎 𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐆𝐄

Bad news indeed for the news. For those who were used to reading both the Jersey Evening Post and Bailiwick Express, there was no doubt that Bailiwick Express was faster on the news and more objective.
Now, if the two are allowed to merge, what hope is there for those who want to know what is going on in the island?
Joining forces may make things more for profitable and solve staff shortages for the two organisations but where does that leave readers who want analysis and objectivity rather than spin and coverups?
It looks as though we shall be left at the mercy of official press releases and the government communications department. Or the lengthy process surrounding Freedom of Information requests. Bad news indeed for the news.
https://www.bailiwickexpress.com/jsy/news/jep-merge-bailiwick-express/

12/08/2022

𝐌&𝐒 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐏𝐒 𝐒𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐃𝐈𝐒𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐀𝐁𝐋𝐄 𝐁𝐁𝐐𝐒

M&S has decided to suspend the sale of portable BBQs at least for the time being. The decision comes after a fire on Sunday night started just above Pulente, with another one in St Ouen on Thursday evening.

Over the weekend voluntary police at St Ouen were warning all users of BBQs along the beach, and not just of the disposable sort, to be especially careful when disposing of BBQ remains. Any spark could ignite a fire in these dry conditions.

The Jersey Fire and Rescue Service is calling on everyone to take extra care when disposing of rubbish, not to burn garden waste or light camp fires, and to make sure that all ci******es are discarded responsibly.

A petition to the States of Jersey has recently been launched to restrict the sale of disposable BBQs. It has only been signed by 60 people so far. 1,000 are needed for a ministerial response.

Waitrose stopped the sale of disposable BBQs about a month ago.

05/08/2022

𝐉𝟕𝟐 𝐒𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐒 𝐀𝐓 £𝟑𝟗𝟎,𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐀𝐓 𝐀𝐔𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍

At a time when many may have to choose between eating or heating this coming winter, the news that a two-digit Jersey car registration plate has sold this week at auction for £139,000 takes the breath away. It sets the record as the most expensive two-digit registration plate sold in the island.

It would seem that some people think this sort of spending is quite normal at a time of economic hardship and crisis. It is no less shocking that this can be considered OK when we are trying to cut down on the use of cars at a time of a climate emergency. The registration plate is attached to a 1999 Honda Civic, of "insignificant value" and certainly with no green credentials. Perhaps this precious plate will be hidden away in a garage and never be seen out on the roads?

I personally would be curious to meet the person who thinks that this a "good" investment. At least the buyer has the decency (or is it the shame?) to remain anonymous.

20/07/2022

SAMARES TO REOPEN ON 10 AUGUST

The new Minister for Health, Karen Wilson, has announced that Samares Ward will re-open at Overdale on 10 August. This is a slight delay from the July deadline which was set by the previous Minister for Health.

The delay has been caused by staffing problems for the rehabilitation ward, which was closed at Overdale in spring 2020. Samares Ward was then moved from Overdale to the General Hospital's Plemont Ward, and instead of the 28-beds was reduced to only 16 beds, with no proper rehabilitation facilities.

The reason given at the time for the relocation was to cope with the Covid-19 pandemic, but the space at Samares was never used for this purpose and the Nightingale hospital was built instead, and then never used. It was subsequently discovered that the Samares closure was to save money, as well as staffing requirements.

In theory, under plans announced by the previous government, the move back to Overdale was designed to be temporary, until a £2 million renovation of Plemont Ward into a proper rehabilitation facility at the General Hospital could be completed. The timetable for this was set for the end of this year. The idea was that demolition of the Westmount Centre at Overdale, where Samares Ward is located, as well as other buildings at Overdale, could then take place to make way for the new hospital. But the demolition plan was refused by the Planning Committee.

At present all the new hospital plans are now under review.

There was no news in yesterday's announcement by the Minister for Health whether the move to Overdale was permanent or only temporary.

16/07/2022

THE MILK CARTONS ARE BACK

The supplies of one-litre cartons for 2.5% fresh Jersey Dairy Milk are back. Jersey Dairy was having supply difficulties for cartons from the UK this week which led to empty shelves for milk in the one-litre cartons. The company has now engaged a second supplier so that shortages should not happen again.

People still ask if these cartons are recyclable? They were launched in February 2020 as being more eco-friendly, using plastics made from sugar cane. They have a 22 per cent lower carbon footprint and have the LEAF (Linking Environment and Farming) seal of approval.

However they can not be recycled.
https://www.facebook.com/RethinkYourWasteJersey/

16/07/2022

A MURAL FOR UKRAINE

Ben Robertson, aka as BOKRA created this mural in support of Ukraine's fight against the Russian invasion. It was commissioned by Romeril's, with support by ArtHouse. BOKRA has several murals around St Helier.

13/07/2022

𝐀 𝐑𝐎𝐘𝐀𝐋 𝐏𝐀𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐍 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐋𝐀 𝐂𝐎𝐓𝐓𝐄

Jersey Heritage has just announced that His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales has accepted their invitation to become Patron of the Jersey Heritage La Cotte de St Brelade Archaeological Project.

His Royal Patronage will boost support for the ongoing interest in one of Europe's foremost sites for the study of Neanderthal behaviour and culture dating from about 120,000 to 35,000 years ago.

News of the Royal Patronage comes at a time when excavations have started again at La Cotte for the first time since the pandemic. The three-week excavation will be under the guidance of Dr Matt Pope from University College London, who has been leading on-going excavations at La Cotte and around Jersey for several years.

The site of La Cotte, which is owned by the Société Jersiaise and managed by Jersey Heritage, was first discovered 140 year ago. It has already provided an enormous amount of knowledge for the understanding of Neanderthal culture, as well as changing perceptions of the place of Neanderthals in human history. Much of this was displayed in an exhibition at the Jersey Museum in 2015. Continuing research at the site it expected to add more unexpected finds to our knowledge of the Ice Age and Neanderthal culture in particular.

La Cotte at Quaisné has been off bounds during stabilisation work to the cliff face above the cave. Rising sea levels, storms and erosion continue as a threat to the site and maintenance work on the access path above the cave is on going. A team from Geomarine will be on hand to ensure the safety of the research group.

The Royal Patronage will be a boost to the image of Jersey as an important centre for the study of the Ice Age, which is especially interesting at a time of climate change and sea level rise. One of the reasons why the Neanderthals are thought to have left their home in Jersey was because rising sea levels cut it off from main landmass of Europe.

All these are subjects of interest to the Prince of Wales, who read archaeology at Cambridge University and took part as a student in excavation at La Cotte in 1968.

12/07/2022

𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐉𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐄𝐘 𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐃𝐄𝐋 𝐆𝐎𝐄𝐒, 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐆𝐎𝐄𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐄𝐒𝐈𝐆𝐍 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐇𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐈𝐓𝐀𝐋 𝐀𝐓 𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐃𝐀𝐋𝐄

One of the new government's first actions has been to put the confusing and disorganised Jersey Care Model (JCM) on ice. The idea of the JCM was to keep people in their homes and away from hospital if possible. It was a sort of care in the community model which never worked in the UK but was assumed would work in Jersey. And although its costs were enormous (we were never able to get the precise costs) it was estimated that over a over a 14-year period it would bring about £800m in savings on hospital admissions

The plans for a new hospital at Overdale were designed accordingly, around the prospect of having the JCM in place. It was assumed that if there were fewer hospital admissions, because people were being cared for in the community, then there would be less need for many of the usual hospital departments or the usual number of beds.

In fact numerous departments were left out of the new hospital design and the total number of over-night beds (we were never able to get a reliable number) seemed to be fewer than at Gloucester Street.

So if the JCM has been put on hold it would follow that the new hospital design is either not fit for purpose any longer or should be put on hold too.

We know the new Chief Minister has promised that the new hospital project at Overdale will be reviewed during her first 100 days in office and that the deadline for a report is 20 October. If the JCM and the new hospital design go hand-in-hand, as we have been told repeatedly for the last two years, then either the JCM is going to have to be resigned in record time, or the designs for the new hospital have just gone belly-up in less than 100 days.