This Is Guernsey

By Nick Mollet

THE Health Department can recruit an extra seven nurses to staff a fourth intensive care bed at the Princess Elizabeth Hospital. It is hoped it will ease the crisis of cancelled operations due to a chronic shortage of ICU beds.

But it could be months before the new nurses are working.

Some critically ill patients have had to be flown to the UK and Jersey hospitals for treatment because of the shortage.

‘We have heard informally that we have had permission to increase the establishment by 7.2 full-time equivalents,’ Health minister Peter Roffey said yesterday.

It means that the department will be able to increase the number of ICU beds from three to four as a stopgap measure until the new critical care facility is ready in spring next year.

‘It will help to ease the situation that has caused considerable concern but the longer-term answer is the creation of the new critical care suite,’ said Deputy Roffey.

Then the department will have a mixture of intensive care and high dependency beds.

Deputy Roffey said that he was pleased to get permission for staff for the extra bed following an initial request, which was sent to Treasury and Resources, some months ago.

But it may take some time to recruit staff, principally from the UK, where there is already a shortage of ICU nurses.

Any such qualified staff in Guernsey will have priority to fill the vacancies.

‘We will press on with all possible steps and we need to get the adverts in the next round of professional journals. Recently we have been relatively successful in recruitment across the whole of our health services.

‘We will have to test the waters and hope we are successful - if not, we will have to find more imaginative ways of doing it. We are hopeful we can have an attractive package, including working conditions, which will attract nurses.’

But a minimum of one month’s notice will have to be given on contracts of employment before any will be able to come here.

‘I hope we will be able to look at opening the fourth bed before we recruit all seven staff, but I will need to speak to the people managing the unit to see if that is practical.’

He also understands that permission in principle has been given for the rest of the establishment for the critical care facility.

‘We hope to recruit in advance of that opening.’

Treasury and Resources minister Lyndon Trott said: ‘The States had previously made a commitment to the ongoing improvement in the ICU facilities.

‘The Health and Social Services Department put forward a strong business case for the increases in staff and the Treasury and Resources Department was able to support that request. Provision of health services is clearly a priority; however, we are ever-conscious of the constant demands for additional staff and resources from across the public sector.’

Article posted on 3rd August, 2004 - 12.00am