Scrutiny publish report on hospital business case and funding proposal
1st October 2021
A report examining the Outline Business Case and proposed funding for the new hospital at Overdale has been published by Scrutiny's Future Hospital Review Panel.
The Panel has come to 29 key findings and made nine recommendations in response to the Our Hospital Project. Principal among these findings is that the Outline Business Case, which supports the proposed of £804.5 million budget, is not robust and fails to provide enough evidence to justify the scale of the project.
The Panel's advisers concluded that the Outline Business Case is not compliant with expected standards (the UK Treasury Green Book) for this level of document. They also found that insufficient rationale for the lack of compliance was provided.
The limited information on future running costs, facilities management information and workforce planning strategies were found to be serious flaws in the Outline Business Case which, in turn, undermine the credibility of the budget proposal and the funding solution.
Last week, the Panel lodged an amendment to the Government's funding proposition, requesting to reduce the proposed budget from £804.5 million to £550 million and reduce that which would be financed through borrowing in the shape of public bonds to a maximum of £400 million.
Chair of the Future Hospital Review Panel, Senator Kristina Moore, said: "The opinion which has been expressed repeatedly to this Panel is that £804.5 million is just too much money. That Jersey needs a new hospital is not in doubt, but it should not be at any cost. We are asking the political leaders of this project – and the States Assembly – to look again and show the budgetary restraint that Islanders are calling for."
Since launching its review in August 2021, the Panel has conducted public hearings with the Deputy Chief Minister, Minister for Treasury and Resources and Assistant Minister for Treasury and Resources, and heard from over 130 Islanders, whose views have been incorporated within its report.
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