Just 59 of the island's 2,475 healthcare staff went to recent workshops about government plans for new healthcare facilities.

The drop-in workshops are understood to have presented a number of scenarios for where future services might be based. 

HCS staff were invited to give their opinions on the New Healthcare Facilities programme - the term being used for the new hospital, to reflect Ministers' intention to spread services across a number of sites.

Locations include Overdale, Kensington Place and Les Quennevais.

Deputy Lyndon Farnham- who led the hospital project under the previous government - questioned the Infrastructure Minister about the turnout.

Deputy Tom Binet said:

"I think that there was a fairly comprehensive engagement before goes a long way to explain why there hasn't been necessarily a huge turnout.

This latest engagement was just part of a series of engagements."

19 workshops took place over the space of three days earlier this month.

The Minister had called them 'an essential opportunity for the team to understand healthcare workers’ views on how services could be delivered in the future, over multiple sites'.

However, the timing,location and publicity of them have been criticised on social media by donsultant gastroenterologist Dr David Ng.

Totally agree. The times and places were poorly advertised and at times which were inconvenient. Tokenism. Only visited by less than 80 workers. I asked for more direct engagement with the doctors which they will this coming week. Feasibility study MUST include staffing

— David Ng (@JerseyGIdoctor) March 19, 2023

The former head of the New Hospital Project, Deputy Lyndon Farnham also says that similar systems of engagement have failed in the past.

'To help them feel involved' Health & Community Services employees have been invited to attend drop-in workshops to receive an update and provide feedback on the New Healthcare Facilities programme (formerly Our Hospital). This format of engagement failed in the initial hospital… https://t.co/7HGyMoQkcP pic.twitter.com/oCsz8K742x

— Dep. Lyndon Farnham (@lyndonfarnham) March 12, 2023

But Deputy Binet says that these workshops are part of a wider series of engagements with staff.

"We'll be engaging again with Medical Staff Committee, and there is an online questionnaire for all staff concerned.

In that form, they can express how they wish for the process to be run in the future so I think we have a very healthy engagement process so far and we've had useful feedback too."