ISLANDERS could lose the right to free healthcare in the UK, it has been revealed.
Island Health chiefs have admitted that free care in NHS hospitals hangs in the balance following the announcement that the UK Department of Health plans to pull out of the long-standing reciprocal health agreement.
Millions
The move could cost the Island millions and leave those visiting the UK having to pay large bills if they fall ill or are injured while there. Most worrying of all, though, is the future of services such as cancer care in Southampton, access to treatments at Great Ormond Street and other specialist centres.
Health chief executive Mike Pollard (pioctured) said that the fate of such services was still not known and he could only say that he was ‘fairly confident’ that they would remain free. He explained that preliminary discussions with the UK Department of Health had revealed that emergency services would cease to be free. Mr Pollard explained, however, that the term emergency had yet to be defined. He said that the UK had first mooted that it might pull out in June.
Article posted on 19th September, 2008 - 3.00pm
33 Article Comments
This is disgusting, The mainland are slowly pushing the Channel Islands away. They have already withdrawn subsidies for further education which boosted my annual Open University fees from £600 to £1600 - I will not be studying with them next year ! Now a service which so many rely on. I am currently pregnant and had complications early on and had to go to Southampton for tests and to see a fetal heart specialist because no one was qualified over here - without that service I do not know what I would have done. I feel so badly for those people who rely on the service for ongoing treatment if this goes ahead.
Time for independence? Reliance on UK health care has long been cited as a reason not to go it alone.
Disgusting, the UK hand out as much money, housing and god knows what else to asylum seekers and immigrants, and yet they are so eager to take such a deverstaingly important service away from its own british nationals. Where do i hand in my passport, it is becoming meaningless.
Pushing the Channel Islands away? Quite rightly so. The UK has condoned the ‘Old boys network’ in Jersey for far too long.
Jersey will have to come up with some means of funding the health care needs of islanders when they go to the UK.
If the UK does cut this support, how long will it be before we find someone of slender means staying in the UK being landed with a bill they cannot afford to pay.
And the suggestion that Jersey Hospital should try and cover everything is ludicrous.
if we have to pay, let’s go to France not the UK. the service they supply is excellent
As a UK citizen I’m disgusted. I recently had to use the reciprocal agreement while staying on Jersey and at the time I remember saying to my friend that the UK must ultimately lose out financially on this agreement.
However, as a Crown dependency, when the UK goes to war your citizens fight on our side. As far as I am concerned, that alone means that the UK should bestow some financial benefit on all our Crown dependencies, whether it is through healthcare or some other method.
I’m from the UK and I feel we neglect our responsibility to you. But then our government neglects its responsibility to the Scots, Welsh and Northern Irish so why I’m surprised I do not know!
As for the Open University, as a fellow student I believe they have done the right thing. They are a business and your Higher Education should be part-funded by the States of Jersey, not by the UK Government (which is why you previously paid less) and not by a UK company giving Jersey, and only Jersey, a ‘discount’.
Taken in the round; is Jersey being pushed away from the UK? Or, is Jersey being assisted onto the escalator marked ‘Exit’.
Defence on the cheap; foreign representation on the cheap; health care on the cheap. In return we offer; off shore banking (tax avoidance); a fulfilment industry (tax avoidance); refuge for the wealthy (tax avoidance).
A credit crunch for Jersey?
There’s two sides to the story.
My family still live in Southampton, and they think it’s disgusting that people living in Jersey should get free UK healthcare, even though they don’t contribute a penny in taxes to the UK Government
Why are we utterly reliant on UK hospitals? We are 14 miles away from the best health care system in the world - the French one. The NHS comes in somewhere around 40th. Surely we should be exploring closer ties with our neighbour, especially for emergency cover.
I suppose the next logical step is for the States withdraw reciprocal arrangements for UK nationals who are in Jersey and use our services in the island.
After all if they do this to us, we should not continue to pay for them.
I suppose the next step is to withdraw reciprocal arrangements for UK nationals who are in Jersey and use our services.
As much as this is a concern for Jersey residents visiting the UK the greatest impact would be on people reliant on medical services not available in Jersey. I have kidney failure and whilst dialysis keeps me alive for the time being, it is not a permenant solution. I hope at some point to recieve a kidney transplant and this operation and the post op care would take place at Guys hospital London.
If free healthcare is withdrawn then I can’t imagine how I would be able to pay for this operation and extensive follow up care by myself. Dialysis cannot be performed indefinitely and I will die if I don’t get a sucessful transplant, is this what is intended for people in my position?
No doubt many other with chronic illnesses are in a similiar position, would Mike Pollard please clarify.
Hi all
from a uk perspecive we all pay into the NHS via taxes etc. Not sure why jersey, one of the wealthiest few square miles on the planet per head of population, shouldn’t contribute. When it comes to asking for regulation of its children’s services from the UK after an abuse scandal, it’s called uk “interference”, and when it comes to the UK withdrawing healthcare it’s “abandonment” by the UK. Jersey can’t have it both ways!
This Is Shocking! I been going back and forth to the uk, Great ormand street and Kings for the past 18 yrs! with out the health care from the Nhs in the uk I wouldnt be here today, And with it not being free there is no way i would be able to keep receiveing medical treatment over there, I’m hoping to Have a liver transplant soon, and with out it I will slowly die, This is a horrible situation and it needs to be sorted!
Please be more specific I have lived and worked in the U.K. my Father still live there, does it apply to me or only jersey people with no U.K. connection.
People from the UK who fall ill in Jersey will be as much at a disadvantage as people from Jersey who fall ill in the UK.
If the UK thinks it is unfairly subsidising Jersey, then it should add up the treatment costs of all Jersey people in the UK. Similarly Jersey should add up the treatment costs of all UK people in Jersey, and say once a year whoever has a lower total should pay half of the difference to the other.
Also, don’t forget that prescription charges are about £6 more in the UK than Jersey, so that should be taken into account.
Simon,
The UK pays Jersey for any medical care of UK nationals over here, that is part of the agreement! When I visited a GP here the other day and needed a prescription I was happy in the knowledge that Jersey won’t lose out because the UK will pay for it out of my UK taxes!
You are not giving us healthcare for free.
On the flip side, if you need care in the UK the UK taxpayer pays for it. I in fact disagree with this decision by the UK but the UK did lose out financially because of it.
This is why we have travel insurance!
Prescription charges are irrelevant because they have nothing to do with the actual price that either the UK Government or the States of Jersey have to pay for the drugs that you are taking! Many drugs cost over £1000 a tablet, many more cost over £1000 per week’s dosage.
Prescription charges are just a way of the Government getting a little bit of money back without discriminating between different illnesses and also a good way to help prevent people asking for drugs they don’t really need and then wasting said drugs.
And Mark has hit the nail on the head, take out travel insurance!
In the Isle of Man there is a reciprocal agreement with the UK. We pay for all treatment to visitors from the ‘mainland’. In return the UK pays for all treatment that can’t be done on the Island. At the end of each fisal year the books are balanced and the difference paid off - always to the UK as that is the greater cost.
If the Jersey / UK arrangement is similar I don’t see how they can cancel it.
If they do then you will need health insurance.
My son has been going over to Southampton over the last 2 years, has had one operation and is waiting for another one. The Jersey hospital did not even know what was wrong with him, so in future what should be done, if it were not for Southampton my son would not be walking properly know and by his teens may even be in a wheel chair. My husband is English and paid in the UK system for a lot of years, so I feel we are entitled to this treatment, especially as Jersey has not got the Doctors who knew what was wrong with him.
About time you islanders learned to pay your way. Why should I subsidise your healthcare, or anything else, with my substantially higher taxes and National Insurance?
Charlie, I can only assume that the Jersey-UK system is more complex, otherwise there simply wouldn’t be a problem.
Anita, as I have already stated, even though I am from the UK I object to this move… however, even if I was for it I would still expect that your husband having paid into the system should entitle your son to free care.
Leah, I am not complaining about my fees going up - it was just an example of how things are moving and how Jersey is moving away from the mainland ! The states do contribute a bit towards my fees now that the policy has changed !
There are some people over here who could afford healthcare anyway so I understand peoples views on them having to pay but there are also some of us who are not within the wealthy groups who struggle just like mainland residents to bring up families and live pay day to pay day. It is these people that I am concerned about.
There have been comments that we should “pay our way” - well, yes, we do: by providing free reciprocal healthcare to UK visitors. Hospital treatment in the UK is paid (to the relevant NHS PCT) by the Health and Social Security Committee. Being a reciprocal agreement, free treatment for UK visitors would cease. Given the higher costs of staff and infrastructure in Jersey, what would we charge a visitor for an A+E consult, X-ray, cast, medication and letter to own GP. I suspect it will be £££££.
Disappointed… understood! My friend has been hit by it too and it’s tough especially when you are already part way through your qualification.
I guess the question is whether Jersey is moving away or the UK is pushing you? With the current reciprocal agreement the UK does seriously lose out, the Isle of Man system would be much better. But you would fight in a war for us so I have no issue with us giving you free healthcare.
I do not believe it is right to expect free health care. If you can afford it pay for it yourself. If you cant then the Government should step in. The problem is people are naturally greedy and are more than happy to buy cars, flat screen TVs and holidays but when it comes to their health they believe the government should pick up the tab - Why? Our current tax in no way covers anywhere near the expenditure required for a modern health care system.
D. Smedley,
‘Free’ is a relative term obviously. In the UK healthcare is not free, we pay National Insurance in the knowledge that healthcare is where it goes. (i.e. it’s only free if you bludge off the State!
Unfortunately countries where you pay directly for all treatment are very unfair on people like myself who have chronic conditions that are in no way our own fault but that are incurable and need treatment until the day we die. In these cases insurance is not an option as you simply can’t get it! It’s bad enough that I get penalised for car insurance, travel insurance, life insurance etc when in reality my condition has no ill effect on any aspects of travel, driving or life expectancy, it is just the greed of the insurance companies that causes this unfairness, but I’m not covered if I don’t declare my condition.
Presumably some of the taxes paid in Jersey are also paid in the knowledge that they go towards healthcare, in which case your healthcare is not free either.
After reading the numerous comments regarding how us mainlanders should “get the boat back” it is nice to see the shoe on the other foot. Hopefully the UK goverment or even better the EU will also realise that as an EU citizen other than being allowed to work and pay all the relevant taxes whilst providing my own private healthcare to pay for my medical treatment I have no rights at all in Jersey and will change the property laws so you cannot purchase a house in the EU until you’ve been domiciled there and paid taxes for 12 years.
the states should raise taxes to 25% and contribute the extra 5% to the NHS…. Locals will still be better off than UK residents tax wise!
You’re right Reg, I am absolutely appalled at how much Jersey is ripped off by the EU. How on earth can it be so easy for foreigners to come to Jersey to work but not for Jersey folk to go to their countries to work? Something is very wrong with the system.