Bobby Dean MP answers residents questions on £57 Million St Helier Hospital A&E upgrade

Following the announcement that £57 million has been secured to expand and upgrade St Helier Hospital's A&E department, Bobby Dean MP has received a large number of questions from local residents about what the investment will mean in practice.

To help answer some of the most common questions, Bobby has recorded a short Q&A covering key aspects of the project and what people can expect from the planned improvements.

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AUTO VIDEO TRANSCRIPT:

Q: Is the extension actually going to stop people spending days on a trolley in A&E?

Yes, that's the plan. The money we've secured is to expand the emergency department — the place that's been most overwhelmed, where people have been waiting far too long to get treated. This is going to end corridor care.

Q: I’ll believe it when I see it.

Fair enough. That scepticism is valid. We've been let down by government after government on this one, but this project is a lot further down the track than those that have come before. And I'm going to hold their feet to the fire.

We've had that massive petition, I have spoken to the ministers, and I'm going to keep working with the trust. We believe we can deliver on this very soon.

Which does lead into another comment I spotted, where it says: 

Q: When does the actual work start? One, two years time?

I actually hope much sooner than that.

A lot of paperwork is underway. Obviously, they need to get the necessary approvals on the details now, but we think there could be spades in the ground as early as spring next year, and it'll be delivered very, very soon.

Q: How are you going to staff it? We need more nurses and Drs

Of course, the NHS always needs more nurses and doctors, but actually just improving the space alone is going to make a massive difference.

When I visited the hospital and spoke to staff there, they said they're basically playing Tetris with all the trolleys and equipment, trying to work out where patients are. It's a mess.

By having that expanded space, they're going to be able to work in a much calmer fashion, a much more efficient fashion, and that's going to go a long way towards reducing waiting times.

Q: How about just building a new fit for purpose hospital?

Let me reassure you: that is still the plan. The government have committed to that, and we're going to hold their feet to the fire on that one as well.

But they said they can't deliver it until the 2030s because of how much it's going to cost, and we simply could not wait until then. We needed something to happen urgently at A&E.

That's when the trust asked if we could campaign for the extension. That's what we've done, and that's what we've delivered on.

Look, there's loads more comments here, but if you've got anything I haven't covered, put it in the comments below and we'll try to get back to you.