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The Princess Elizabeth Hospital
The States of Guernsey run the Princess Elizabeth Hospital (PEH), the only acute hospital in Guernsey which opened in 1949 and is made up of 12 wards and 104 beds.
As well as the secondary healthcare consultants provided by the MSG, the HSC employ their own clinicians to run inpatient and outpatient hospital services, including radiologists, emergency care doctors, pathologists, psychiatrists, physiotherapists, community doctors and nursing staff.
The PEH is currently undergoing a modernisation programme as part of a strategy to transform the provision of health and social care services to respond to the Bailiwick's ageing population and increasing demand for services. Phase 1 is underway and will deliver a new purpose-built critical care unit and a post-anaesthesia recovery unit. Phase 2 is due to start in 2024.
Patients in Guernsey, Herm or Alderney (but not Sark) who wish to be treated under the States contract and receive free secondary healthcare must be referred by another clinician, usually a GP, just as they would in the NHS.
They can also choose to be a private patient to receive extra benefits, or if they wish to receive treatment that is not covered under the States contract (such as cosmetic procedures). Unlike the NHS, patients are able to opt in and out as a private patient for one episode of care.
Patients who do not live in Guernsey, Alderney or Herm can be seen privately. Some specialties will accept private patients without a GP referral.
With a population of around 63,000 , it is not practical for Guernsey to offer the full range of secondary healthcare services and some patients need to travel off island for treatment.
Most treatment outside the Bailiwick is commissioned by HSC and covered under the States’ contract, so there is no cost to the patient.
For patients who require treatment which isn’t provided locally, their treating doctor will request to refer them to a hospital or treatment centre in Jersey or the UK. All referrals are screened by the HSC’s off island services team who will authorise or reject the referral based on certain criteria.
For patients requiring urgent emergency care, an emergency air charter will be arranged.
HSC also commissions visiting services such as neurology, haematology, rheumatology and microbiology which are provided by UK-based hospitals.
