Les Amis halts Maison Des Amis development

The Board of Directors and Board of Trustees of Les Amis have made the difficult decision to halt the Maison des Amis (MDA) development on the site of the former Hampshire Hotel, Val Plaisant.

The decision was made following a new Government of Jersey (GOJ) report, which indicates that the development (which received Planning approval in November last year) is now too large for the Island’s predicted future needs.

With their recently completed report, GOJ finally provided their decision that they are unable to commit to commissioning the services due to be delivered at MDA (i.e., refer residents to use Les Amis’ services). Without this commitment and in the face of rising costs and pressures on the local construction industry, the Board and Trustees agreed that the financial risk is too high to justify continuing the development at this time.

Prior to said report, Les Amis had worked closely and met regularly with the relevant government departments and Ministers over the past two years. It had consistently kept them informed and sought their support throughout to build what was to be Jersey’s first, long-term residential home with specialist nursing units for Islanders with learning disabilities, including those with early on-set dementia – which they are five times more likely to develop than adults without learning disabilities (see Notes below).

Paul Routier, newly appointed Chair of Les Amis’ Board of Directors, said:

“Les Amis will continue to work with Government of Jersey, partner agencies, staff and residents and families to determine and gather consensus around the appropriate facilities required for aging Islanders with learning disabilities – for their right and access to quality care, quality of life and dignity in their final years, when they are most vulnerable.

We stand by our research which highlights the unmet need for such facilities and commit to making the right provisions going forward.

In the meantime, we remain focused on providing our residents and their families the best care, facilities and support that we can give as a strong, local charity which has always spoken up and fought for the rights of Islanders with learning disabilities.”

Notes: According to NHS Digital, ‘…people with learning disabilities were 26 times more likely to have epilepsy, 8 times more likely to have severe mental illness and 5 times more likely to have dementia.’