Rehabilitation unit will not return to Samares Ward

18th November 2021

The Health and Social Security Scrutiny Panel has held its final Quarterly Public Hearing of the year with the Minister for Health and Social Services, Deputy Richard Renouf. During the hearing, the Panel were informed that:

• The rehabilitation unit will not return to Samares Ward but will remain at the General Hospital until the new hospital at Overdale is built, which the Minister said is 'not a money saving measure' and he is working to 'deliver the service as it was before'. The Minister also said that he aims to respond to the petition to 'reinstate Samares Ward to its full complement of 28 beds and previous services', which has had over 1,000 signatures for 75 days, within the next 10 days.

• A full business case for an on-Island radiotherapy unit is expected after Christmas.

• The security issues surrounding the Government's digital Covid-19 certificates have yet to be resolved.

• Mental health services are 'seeing a period of pressure' and greater capacity in crisis prevention and home treatment is needed.

• There has been a strong uptake in the Covid-19 booster vaccine so far, reaching over 80% uptake in high-risk groups.

Chair of the Health and Social Security Panel, Deputy Mary Le Hegarat, said "In our final Quarterly Public Hearing with the Minister for Health and Social Services of 2021 we sought to place emphasis on issues which are of particular public interest and concern – namely the pressure on mental health services, Samares Ward and Covid-19. Whilst we have received several useful updates from the Health department, we look forward to receiving written responses on a number of question areas, such as the ineligibility of children under 12 for lateral flow testing, that remain unanswered following this public hearing."

The full public hearing will become available to watch here shortly. 

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