Tuesday 23 August 2016
Primary Care Company Limited (PCCL) currently services the Accident & Emergency Department (A&E) at the Princess Elizabeth Hospital under contract to the States of Guernsey.
The Office of the Committee for Health and Social Care (HSC) will take over the operational service from PCCL at the end of this month, following which it will be known as the Emergency Department (ED).
HSC is grateful to PCCL for providing emergency services for the island for over 12 years and appreciate that without PCCL's doctors, the island would have been unable to sustain such a quality service.
Dr Brian Parkin from PCCL said:
"We have always endeavoured to deliver a high quality professional service to the Guernsey public for many years. Primary Care will continue to provide an out-of-hours GP clinic based in the out-patients' area at the PEH. If appropriate, patients' care could be escalated from there to the Emergency Department. We very much hope that adjustments to the departmental provision will increase the level of service to our patients. We look forward to continuing our good professional relationships with hospital based doctors."
In order to prepare for transition, HSC has recruited a number of Associate Specialists, qualified in emergency medicine, to staff the Department and strengthen service resilience. These Associate Specialists will work alongside the current team, including a Consultant, who will continue to assist members of the public as well as supporting new colleagues in getting to grips with the unique format of Guernsey's private medical services.
Jan Coleman, HSC Director of Hospital Services, said the initial focus is to retain the service in its existing state.
"Patients attending the Emergency Department post transition will notice little change, including existing charges which will remain the same. However, the intention is that the transition will provide scope for HSC to increase the amount of specialist skills within the Department. In-house staff with varied specialisms will enable the Emergency Department to strive to offer a larger range and depth of services, to the benefit of patients.
'Completion of the transition will also result in ongoing reviews and quality checks to identify areas for efficiency. We will aim for continuous improvement from a transformational perspective, however at present the focus is on ensuring stability and the transition itself is already considered a success for HSC."
Mrs Coleman also said HSC wanted to express its gratitude to PCCL doctors for their continued support and assistance in the smooth transition of the service.
"HSC is most grateful for the dedication and professionalism of our colleagues from PCCL who have run the Emergency Department at the Princess Elizabeth Hospital to date and wish to thank them for all their hard work and efforts."
