Care Home Beds and Capacity (FOI)

​​Request 695359134

​How many care home beds are there in Jersey and what is the percentage capacity currently? Please could you also provide me with the data for the last five years. Thank you.

Response

Information on the number of beds registered for each care home can be found on the Jersey Care Commission’s website, linked below:

Jersey Care Commission | Jersey's Independent Care Regulator

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

As noted in a Freedom of Information response published to www.gov.je in January 2025, records are not held by the Government of Jersey on the numbers of care home residents. Therefore, Article 3 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 applies.

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.

Internal Review Request

The Freedom of Information (FOI) request seeking care home bed numbers and capacity for Jersey was received by Health and Care Jersey (HCJ) on 12 March 2025. A response was provided to the applicant on 12 March 2025.

Following receipt of the FOI response, the applicant requested an Internal Review on 13 March 2025 querying the contents of the response and, consequently, the application of Article 3 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011.

The applicant contacted the Central FOI Unit to request an Internal Review, as follows:

“I would also like to take you up on the offer of an Internal Review. Frankly, I refuse to believe that government is not aware of the amount of care home beds vacant in the entire island.”

Internal Review Response

The Chief Nurse and the HCJ Information Governance Manager were asked to undertake the Internal Review. Neither party had been involved in drafting or authorising the original response. 

The Internal Review was coordinated and administered by the HCJ FOI Officer, and took place at Jersey General Hospital on 09 April 2025. The in-scope FOI response and the Internal Review Procedure were shared with both reviewers on this day. 

Both the Chief Nurse and the HCJ Information Governance Manager were asked to consider whether:

• the Freedom of Information request had been handled appropriately
• the Freedom of Information Law (Jersey) Law 2011 has been properly applied
• there were any other options available in order to respond to the request
• it is possible to provide you with any further information, and 

They will also provide an outcome of the internal review by stating whether:

• the original decision is upheld, or 
• the original decision is reversed in part or in full, or 
• the original decision is modified

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Was the request handled appropriately?

Extensive investigations had been undertaken by HCJ for a Freedom of Information query answered in January 2025 on a similar matter (as referenced in the response to this request), and in previous years for questions on care home resident data. Relevant service areas, including Adult Social Care, Community, and Commissioning, were consulted and it was established that data was not held or collected on care home bed numbers or capacity, nor on those resident in care homes.

As part of the investigations, Employment, Social Security and Housing (formerly Customer and Local Services), were also consulted and confirmed that it did not hold data to assist.

Upon receipt of this request in such close proximity to the most recent investigations, it was established that the information was not held, and the recent response was referenced and signposted, as was the Jersey Care Commission website for care home bed data.

Has the Law been properly applied?

Freedom of Information is designed to enable access to information held in recorded form by a Scheduled Public Authority. Article 3 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 defines ‘information held’, as follows:

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.

Where information is not held in accordance with that definition, Article 3 is cited.

Article 23 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law was also cited, in respect of care home bed numbers. This states:

(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. 

As information for this part of the request is available elsewhere, HCJ applied the Article 23 exemption, and directed to the website where the information sought could be found. 

Having reviewed the definitions as stated in the relevant legislation, it was agreed that the Law had been appropriately considered and applied because the data was confirmed as ‘not held’ and what information was available was appropriately signposted. 

Were there any other options available? 

Article 12 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 places a duty on Scheduled Public Authorities to make reasonable efforts to provide sufficient advice and assistance to applicants. Whilst agreeing that the Law had been appropriately applied, we also reviewed whether:

• there were any other options available when responding to this FOI request

Freedom of Information legislation is designed to further the aim of greater openness and transparency by enabling ready access to public information. In responding to this request, the reviewers agreed that HCJ could have provided a more detailed explanation of the extent or limitations to which information is available. 

In addressing the applicant’s original query, HCJ considered the term ‘care home’ to represent elderly residential or nursing care. It was noted that the applicant’s definition of ‘care home’ could have been sought for surety.

Is it possible to provide you with any further information?

Records held by HCJ for care home bed numbers and availability are limited to HCJ facilities. Most care homes on the island are private businesses, and as such, records are not held by HCJ. 

Information on HCJ’s Sandybrook Nursing Home, including bed numbers and the distribution of these, can be found on the Government of Jersey website:

Sandybrook Nursing Home

Available bed days and occupancy data aren’t routinely reported for Sandybrook. Elderly care beds generally run to capacity, with the exception of any temporary bed vacation where a resident requires acute hospital admission. New residents are placed when availability arises. 

Health and Care Jersey regularly contact care homes to enquire about availability to accommodate patients awaiting discharge or referral from the community. Any position communicated relates solely to each care home’s stated availability to accommodate HCJ-referred public patients at that particular point in time; allocation of beds available is at the discretion of the care home to determine and disclose. As such, this cannot be considered to definitively represent capacity or occupancy at each facility.

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Outcome

​It was agreed that HCJ appropriately handled the original response and that the information contained therein was accurate. Therefore, the original decision is upheld, with the acknowledgement that providing additional information on the extent and limitations of data held may be helpful.