Alderney is considered to be a remote island in terms of medical resilience. We often have storms, heavy seas, fog and strong winds, all of which can make it difficult, if not impossible to safely transfer a sick patient to Guernsey. It is worth bearing this in mind when choosing to live or visit here, particularly if you have multiple health conditions..
The on-call doctors will often discuss patient management with their Consultant counterparts in Guernsey, particularly in the case of trauma, obstetrics or very complex medical conditions. The hospital is well equipped with a small Xray department but there is no CT or MRI scanner. There is a two bedded emergency room but no operating theatre or maternity facilities.
If a patient needs treatment or care that we cannot provide on the island we will all endeavour to provide a safe and effective plan to get the patient to Guernsey, or in a dire emergency, Southampton. Some patients may need to go to Jersey if weather precludes landing in Guernsey.
There is a tried and tested medevac system in place which will routinely use Aurigny airline to transfer our patients during daylight hours. Alternatively, if there is fog or other reasons for no flying, we would request the Flying Christine, a suitably equipped marine ambulance. Certain medical conditions can only be transported by sea.
Beyond daylight hours, urgent cases may be transported by UK Coastguard helicopter, which is based at Lee-on-the-Solent, if available. There may be situations when the weather is too bad for any form of transfer or there may be non-availability of either aircraft or boats.