Hospital fire safety work to cost up to £2m, delaying critical care unit opening until 2027
- Up to £2m in additional costs required to fix fire safety issues at Guernsey Hospital's new Critical Care Unit and Post Anaesthetic Care Unit due to failings in the original strategy
- Contractor Rihoy & Sons is covering costs of initial construction defects but the States of Guernsey must fund additional fire protection work
- New units will not open before the end of 2026, significantly delayed from original autumn 2024 completion date
- Phase 1 will exceed its original £34m budget, with final costs to be confirmed after work completion
- Phase 2A of hospital modernisation now projected to cost very significantly more than the approved £130m budget
Up to £2m. will be required to combat fire safety issues with building work at the hospital because of shortcomings in how it was originally scoped.
This work at the new Critical Care Unit and Post Anaesthetic Care Unit is in addition to fixing defects with the construction that meant fire and smoke could spread through the unit more easily than it should.
While the contractor Rihoy & Sons is covering the cost of rectifying the initial problem and is nearly finished with the CCU, more needs to be done to meet fire safety regulations.
The new block has been beset with delays after work began in March 2022, with completion dates of Autumn 2024 and early 2025 coming and going.
“The opening of the CCU and PACU were delayed due to essential remedial works required to address defects related to firestopping, and it was critical that they were completed before the facility could safely open,” said Dermot Mullin, Director of Operations.
“With the cooperation of the contractor, remedial works on the CCU are now close to completion and will then be carried out in the PACU. The contractor is responsible for the costs of these works.
“During this process, however, additional fire protection issues were identified, in part because of learning from significant fire events in buildings over recent years. These must also be rectified before the units can safely open.
“This additional work is necessary to ensure full compliance with current fire regulations and stems from failings in the original fire strategy. Responsibility for this additional work does not sit with the contractor.
“The existing contractor, Rihoy & Son, will undertake the required work, which will need to be funded by the States of Guernsey.
“This will increase project costs, which are still to be finalised but are expected to be about £1m-£2m. Unfortunately, the units will not open before the end of 2026.
“This is not the outcome we hoped for, and we remain focused on opening the units as soon as is practicably possible.
“Although HSC cannot confirm a final budget for the full project until several months after the work is completed, we know that Phase 1 will not remain within the original £34m budget.”
In his update to the States in November 2025, HSC President George Oswald said they hoped to open Phase 1 in 2026.
In his latest update delivered to the Assembly on 20 May, he said that it was “an open secret that remedial works in the new critical care units to address defects are related, principally, to firestopping”.
“I am pleased to say that, with the cooperation of the contractor, the remedial works on the Critical Care Unit are now close to completion. However, during this process, further issues related to fire protection have been identified.
“This additional work relates to changes from the original fire strategy that are required to ensure full compliance with current fire safety regulations. As such, no responsibility for the need for this additional work attaches to the contractor. It is for the States of Guernsey to finance the additional work required.”
The next phase of the hospital modernisation project has also been beset with problems.
A £120m budget was approved by the last States in October 2023, but it soon emerged that officials had not told politicians that projections actually put the costs at £30m. more than that.
In response, HSC split this part of the project into two phases, with the first one, predominantly new build, including maternity and theatres, meant to come in at £130m.
An outline business case and policy letter was due to be brought to the States during 2026.
“However, analysis from our external cost consultants, delivered to the Programme Governance Board within the last week, has given an early indication that Phase 2A cannot be delivered within the funding previously agreed by the States,” said Deputy Oswald.
“I am not yet able to provide specific figures, as further work is required to explore these revised estimates and to fully understand the underlying cost drivers. What I can say is that the updated estimate is likely to be very significantly above the original budget.
“The Committee has had preliminary discussions on the implications of this major development. We will shortly meet to discuss the full impact and consequences of this latest information on the delivery of Phase 2A. We will engage with the Policy & Resources Committee regarding next steps and we will keep Members informed.”
Phase 2B, which includes refurbishment of the Emergency Department, was to follow once money was available.
Background and history
The Princess Elizabeth Hospital was officially opened by Princess Elizabeth (later Queen Elizabeth II) on 23 June 1949, built around Le Vauquiedor Farm which the States had purchased for £6,500, replacing Victoria Cottage Hospital which had opened in 1888 but closed in 1940 during the German Occupation. Some clinical areas of the hospital date back to the 1940s and the PEH has been extended and modified in a piecemeal manner since. The need to deliver a series of hospital upgrades was unanimously supported by the States of Deliberation in March 2019 and subsequently prioritised within the Government Work Plan in 2021. The total investment over 10 years was initially estimated at between £72.3m to £93.4m, with separate States approval required before the second and third phases could begin. Work on Phase 1, the Critical Care Unit, began in March 2022, with completion originally scheduled for the end of 2022, with the hospital expected to be fully operational by 2027. However, by March 2023, costs for phases 2 and 3 had more than doubled from £50 million in 2019 to £120 million because of inflation and much higher building costs. In October 2023 the States agreed to fund Phase 2 with a cost of £120m, but some former members of the Hospital Modernisation Programme Management team received updated estimates in February 2023 suggesting the cost could potentially be £20m-£30m above the planned £120m cost. By August 2024, patients were not expected to be admitted to the new critical care unit until early 2025, after delays to phase one, though the unit was expected to be completed by the end of autumn 2024. The delays to Phase 1 were then compounded by fire safety issues.
Q&A
Q: Why is the Guernsey Hospital Critical Care Unit delayed?
A: The unit is delayed due to essential remedial works to address defects in firestopping, plus additional fire protection issues identified during the repair process. The units will not open before the end of 2026, significantly later than the original autumn 2024 completion date.
Q: Who is paying for the fire safety repairs at the hospital?
A: The contractor Rihoy & Sons is covering the cost of rectifying the initial construction defects. However, the States of Guernsey must fund the additional fire protection work, estimated at £1m-£2m, which stems from failings in the original fire strategy rather than contractor errors.
Q: What is happening with Phase 2 of the hospital modernisation project?
A: Phase 2A, which includes maternity and theatres with an approved budget of £130m, is now projected to cost very significantly more than originally budgeted. The Health & Social Care Committee is meeting to discuss the implications and will engage with Policy & Resources regarding next steps.
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