Hyberbaric chamber costs (FOI)

Request

A

Please advise how much the average yearly running costs of the hyperbaric chamber were for the years between 2016 and 2018? 

B

Between the years 2016 to 2018, how much, each year, was the Government of Jersey providing funding for the hyperbaric chamber?

C

How many patients used the hyperbaric chamber each year from 2016 to 2018.?

D

Since the closure of the hyperbaric chamber in 2018, how many diving related incidents have been reported in Jersey?

E

Of those diving related incidents, how many resulted in the patient requiring treatment from a hyperbaric chamber in Guernsey or the United Kingdom?

F

What have the costs been each year of sending patients to Guernsey or the UK for hyperbaric treatment? Please provide a breakdown for the years from 2019 to 2023.

Response

A

Jersey Hyperbaric Treatment Centre was not a Government of Jersey facility, and Health and Community Services (HCS) do not hold records of the expenditure of this organisation. Article 3 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 applies.

B

Details of the grant awarded by the States of Jersey, to Jersey Hyperbaric Treatment Centre in 2016 are available in the financial report and accounts 2016 which can be accessed via the link below. 

States of Jersey Reports and accounts 2016 (gov.je)

As this information is available elsewhere, Article 23 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 has been applied.

No grant was awarded to Jersey Hyperbaric Treatment Centre in 2017 or 2018.

C

HCS do not hold records of how many patients were treated by Jersey Hyperbaric Treatment Centre per year, as this was an external service. Article 3 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 applies.

No payments were made to Jersey Hyperbaric Treatment Centre for services provided from 2016 to 2018. 

Except for the 2016 grant detailed above, no monies were paid to the business from 2016 onwards.

D

Neither HCS, nor States of Jersey Ambulance Service, hold data on all diving-related incidents reported in Jersey. Article 3 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 applies.

Jersey Coastguard / Ports of Jersey may be able to provide this information. Contact details are available through the Ports of Jersey website and can accessed via the link below:

Contact us.ports.je

E

Since the closure of Jersey Hyperbaric Treatment Centre in 2018, three people have required hyperbaric treatment off-island to date.

All individuals were transferred to Guernsey for their treatment.

F

Due to the small number of incidents requiring off-island treatment, a breakdown of costs per annum is not provided, as this would identify costs specifically attributed to the care of individual patients and years of occurrence. Article 25 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 has been applied to protect the privacy of individuals.

The total charges to HCS from 2018 to date are £32,145.97.

These costs are inclusive of medical flights, airport fees, ambulance transfers, clinical staff costs, and all care provided in Guernsey.

Articles applied

Article 3 - Meaning of “information held by a public authority”

For the purposes of this Law, information is held by a public authority if –

(a)     it is held by the authority, otherwise than on behalf of another person; or

(b)     it is held by another person on behalf of the authority.

Article 23 - Information accessible to applicant by other means

(1) Information is absolutely exempt information if it is reasonably available to the applicant, otherwise than under this Law, whether or not free of charge.

(2) A scheduled public authority that refuses an application for information on this ground must make reasonable efforts to inform the applicant where the applicant may obtain the information.

Article 25 - Personal information

(1) Information is absolutely exempt information if it constitutes personal data of which the applicant is the data subject as defined in the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2005.

(2) Information is absolutely exempt information if –

(a) it constitutes personal data of which the applicant is not the data subject as defined in the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2005; and

(b) its supply to a member of the public would contravene any of the data protection principles, as defined in that Law.

3)      In determining for the purposes of this Article whether the lawfulness principle in Article 8(1)(a) of the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2018 would be contravened by the disclosure of information, paragraph 5(1) of Schedule 2 to that Law (legitimate interests) is to be read as if sub-paragraph (b) (which disapplies the provision where the controller is a public authority) were omitted.