Local firms invited to be involved in new hospital

Jersey building firms have been invited to find out more about getting involved in the construction of a new hospital in St Helier.

Last February, the Planning Committee unanimously approved plans for a £710m acute hospital at Overdale.

Bouygues UK (BYUK) was later announced as the preferred tenderer for the main construction work, with Ashbe Construction awarded the contract to prepare the site.

Local businesses have been invited to attend a two-day event on Wednesday and Thursday, which BYUK described as "a great opportunity to connect and discuss working together on this landmark project".

According to the States' website, companies must register beforehand to help "gauge demand" in the general presentation and one-to-one sessions on offer.

The event at the Grand Jersey Hotel would cater to the likes of everyone from general contractors and materials suppliers, to hospitality and catering and security and facilities management, organisers said.

The Minister for Health and Social Services, Deputy Tom Binet, said the government's New Healthcare Facilities Programme - which was working to create new hospital facilities - had "already created opportunities for the local market".

"Now this is a further opportunity for businesses to join us in delivering much needed healthcare facilities for Islanders," he added.

The new hospital at Overdale - which will have an emergency department, as well as radiology and maternity services - was greenlit after medical director of health and care Simon West deemed it "completely unfit for purpose".

Citing rain water coming in through the ceilings and burst mains as regular occurrences, he said that the building was not able to "adapt and expand to changing modern healthcare needs".

Previous plans for a new facility at the site had been approved in 2022 but were ultimately scrapped by Deputy Kristina Moore's government due to concerns over costs.

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