Temporary relocation of St Helier Hospital’s women’s health services

Independent expert advice has found essential repair work is needed in the women's health block at St Helier Hospital to ensure future safety for our colleagues, patients and visitors, meaning some services will be temporarily relocated next Spring.

During a scheduled water sampling exercise low levels of Legionella and Pseudomonas bacteria were identified in the block, which houses maternity, gynaecology, and the neonatal ward, as well as specialised care including Assisted Conception Unit, and emergency gynaecology services.

The building’s water is safe, with a range of measures (including the use of filters) in place and regular water testing taking place, which has confirmed that the current mitigations including water filters are effective.

However, significant work is needed to provide a sustainable and permanent solution, as the pre-war pipework will need to be replaced.

This is not possible to do while maintaining a good birth, gynaecology and fertility experience and safe environment for babies and families in the building.

For the safety of our patients and people we need to act, and from Spring next year we will need to temporarily relocate the Women’s Health block at St Helier Hospital, while keeping as many services on the site as possible.

All the options are currently being considered to enable this work, while continuing to provide the services families and community need on site.

No decisions have been made about where each service will be located, however the Trust aims to maintain as many as possible at St Helier.

The recommendation follows a scheduled water sampling exercise which found low levels of Legionella and Pseudomonas bacteria in the Women’s Health block at St Helier.

Advice has been taken from Infection Prevention and Control specialists and the Trust also commissioned an independent Consultant Clinical Scientist, with expertise in water hygiene and infection control, to review the situation and guide on appropriate next steps.

We will work with our teams, local families, and our local authority partners, to ensure our services are right for our communities.

Women and their families should continue to access women’s health services at St Helier Hospital in the usual way, and once decisions have been made on where services will be temporarily relocated to in Spring next year, we will communicate this with patients and our communities well in advance.