What will we have to pay for?
Saturday 22nd August 2009, 2:56PM BST.
Health Minister Anne Pryke
Islanders are going to have to pay for more health services to fund better pay and conditions for nurses, the Health Minister has said.
Deputy Anne Pryke said that the user-pays principle would be put into practice to provide cash to invest in staff recruitment and retention.
However, she would not disclose what services Islanders would be made to pay for.
That will be revealed next week, when the department outlines how it intends to save £1.3 million next year as required by the States Business Plan.
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If i have to pay for medical treatment at the hospital when i need it does that mean my income tax will be reduced to account for this or will i be paying twice for the service?
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Can some one please explain to me where these “educated” people get their hare-brained ideas from, yet another example of the Islanders having to fund departmental losses because the States cannot get their collective axxe into gear and manage the finances !!!
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Wasn’t GST introduced to act as a bridge between reduced corp tax and cuts in public spending?
Let’s hope the only services affected are those exclusive to the rich.
Anything else will increase sickness and unproductivity and employability in the poorer socioeconomic groupings and so widen the wealth gap – accepted as the main driver for social unrest – and alienate them further away from the society they are feeling victimised by.
This is how the finance industry is repaying their favourable treatment. Plunging billions into insecure futures and real hardship, while they moan that they can’t be forced not to play their games in secret anymore.
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Looks like this is what happens now that we have to pay politicians. Bring back the good old days when this island was run for the people without remumation for the politicans,and we all had a good standard of living.
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Pay for health care? Are we going down the US route of leaving ‘em on the streets to their fate if they can’t afford to pay for treatment?
User pays is creeping in everywhere. When will parents be charged for their children’s education?
This island is becoming a joke as far as I am concerned. Fine if you’re a 1.1k, J-cat, a big business or rich, but what about those just above the bread line? No help for them, they can struggle on as best they can can’t they? It is time everyone paid their way according to their means 20 should mean 20 after a few basic allowances.
Becoming poorer is the fate of most over here if those in charge don’t change their tune from what I can see. Just wait till GST goes up to 10-15% will people still be so accepting of things then? This island needs to wake up and get its priorities in order.
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If we stop funding the treatment for drug addicts who have only themselves to blame for their predicament the shortfall will easily be found!, there will probably be some left over to improve the service maybe even include dental treatment ?
Letting the idiots who have selfishly brought on their own misfortune die in the streets would be the best deterrent yet to stop youngsters taking up the substances.
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Well then I think we should pay less social security and income tax then! I for one don’t want to work to pay my contributions just so someone who cant be bothered to work or just pops out kids doesn’t have to, go around town during the day and you will see the same people spending there, well our benefit money , There not going to pay! they wont be able to afford it, so we will be paying for the service and paying for them too. We are already and its a joke, at least were not paying twice at the moment! from what this is saying we will be, So no, Fairs fair you shouldn’t get hand outs for being lazy or being on dissability allowance for a sore back.
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It,s getting beyond a joke.
We have all paid through our social secrurity for these sevises
wasting our money all these years on non essention fripperies is the cause and they should be brought to account.
the waiting list is getting longer and longer to see consultants as the ones who pay or on bupa goes first,the rest of us have to wait.
money certainly does talk.
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I doubt we could manage with unpaid politicians these days.
Many Ministers are effectively doing a full time job with their departmental responsibilities, meetings in the house and inquiries from members of the public.
Maybe there are a few deputies that do not have any other commitments such as being a Minister or sitting on scrutiny and thay manage to do the job in a few days a week but there cannot be many left in that lucky position.
Unpaid members would mean a house filled with the retired or independently wealthy, not representative or desirable in my opinion!
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We are going to have to pay more for health care Says Anne Pryke. We actual pay £165 million a year already.This is the budget granted by the States.The financial sector contributes by paying for private treatment.
Come on Anne you are better than that. Ask the deep questions on how money is spent. Is the tax payer getting a good return on the Hospital. Order Jerseys Hospital Management to put all the statistics on the internet as the NHS hospitals do.
Then we can monitor waiting times, operation success rates, expenditure per head of population. Out of and in court settlements, Time doctors and consultants spent on private and public business and everything else with correct management of a hospital.
As you are aware the management came out thrilled in 2006 when again their own paid outside team said Jersey care was above England level.
Prove it ?
User pays is just another way to get more money out of peoples pockets. Lets see transparency and time and motion corporate experts on efficiency put through the hospital, before charging the man / women in the street a penny more. What are you scared of Anne or are you making the mistake of taking what you are told at face value ?
Davey.
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Mick and Mogit…i agree with both of you!! |Its things like this that are sooo annoying!! If they stopped ballsing everything else up then the funds would be readily available, how ever they are making a mockery of all who live in jersey making us pay left right and centre for things that we pay enough for already!! We pay GST, social, tax etc our wages are becoming less and less!!
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Compulsory health insurance (as in Guernsey) has been on the cards for some time, so this is probably going to reinforce that policy.
No mention of how un-insureable folk (cancer sufferers, HIV patients, and others with pre-existing conditions) will be expect to get coverage.
Still, I must say the new red tarmac in Braod Street looks nice.
I can’t imagine that was anything but essential.
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This is disgusting. This island is becoming an impossible place to live for those of us not in the 11k bracket. Only last week my 10 year old daughter developed a temperature of 39.5 degrees and a sore throat and blinding headache. I phoned the out of hours number and was told to take her immediately to the hospital surgery as she was a swine flu risk. As it happens, it was a bad dose of tonsilitis instead but I still got charged £50 for the priviledge. My husband was made redundant in February (3 weeks after the birth of our son) so £50 is not an amount I can really afford right now! Charging for children is a disgrace. I can suffer in silence to avoid having to go to the doctor and pay extortionate fees but I cannot expect my kids to do the same. This island needs to get its act together.
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On second thoughts maybe this is a new States plan to fix population problems. If us poor cannot afford to have health care we will kick the bucket sooner – BINGO population problem solved and more room for those oh so desirable 11k bunch !!
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Well said Simon! Could I also point out that not all J cats get generous pay packets, the majority of Jersey nurses are J cats. We too pay our tax so in effect pay towards are own wage. Also, Jersey has very small waiting lists, the problem is that we can only employ a limited number of consultants and there are not unlimited numbers of hours in the day. Having a private health policy has very little effect on your waiting time for an operation or consultation.
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Yeah, what is with that god awful red tarmac……it’s too gritty for my liking!
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Will the extra money be taken in the form of a tax, so that those with health insurance pay three times?
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I have to say that I find the health service here in Jersey much better than back home in Chapel-en-le-Frith. The rest of my family have noticed that if they pop over they can get preferential treatment and much faster than back home and they don’t even have qualies. I’m not sure how this reciprocal agreement is meant to work but I really must thank the local taxpayer for making this concession so popular and efficient. Seems that there is an unnoticed upside to harmful tax havens after all.
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Jersey Nurse
Sorry your statement is patronising. You say we can only employ so many consultants, they are not monitored not managed and as you may know that in the UK should a consultant on his odd day off want to do extra private work ( should he have any energy left after a busy week ) then he has to contribute a serious amount of his private pay to his boss to use the hospital facilities. Does this happen in Jersey ?
Regarding waiting lists in the UK the bench mark is max, 8 weeks try 4 months in Jersey.
Helpfull if you have something very bad growing inside you.
I cannot believe what you wrote, is your husband a consultant doing the private work ?
Davey
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bench mark for surgery in the uk is 16 weeks so they say i have been waiting since feb!!!!!!!!!!!
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Davey west
Apologies for sounding patronising, it was not intended to be so. I agree with what you say, I was trying to get across that private insurance in Jersey is not really needed as the health service does its best to meet demand. Although private patients do cover costs for care that would otherwise be paid for via the health service it is certainly only the consultant who benefits financially.
PS my husband certainly is not a private consultant!!!!!
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It does doesn’t it Simon? And it sprung up very quickly too!
#14, I too am quickly getting the impression that the States really do want to get rid of anyone not on a 6-figure salary. They are making it harder and harder for anyone who earns less than that to live here (no matter how hardworking and/or how important their job is). They do not seem to care how many people that were born here are forced off the island but would no doubt be absolutely outraged if it was their own child.
Well I hope they enjoy their little rich island with no teachers, nurses, postal workers, waiting staff, street sweepers, farm workers, shop assistants, midwifes, delivery drivers, administrative staff, … cause I doubt anyone will be quick to bail them out when they finally realise that an island cannot run without such people.
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#21 Jersey Nurse: Surely if patients cover the costs of their care, the General Hospital benefits as it receives money for the use of its facilities, presumably at a mark up, always presuming this doesn’t prevent public sector patients from receiving healthcare. Also, the consultant will employ others to assist him in his private work, eg secretary, nurses, etc.
Most importantly, by some people paying for private healthcare, the rest of us benefit through lower demand on publically funded heathcare.
Given the above, to say that it is only the consultant who benefits financially is surely wrong?
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Good points lear.
mind you they would need to keep a few of us here to act as their mere minions.
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Wasn’t a Mr. Brocken trying to build a private hospital on the old Chelsea site? That would cater for the private patients. I also believe there was an offer that the operating theatre could be used by the General when it was not being used.
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@ Helena #4
If you think not paying politicians would go anyway to improving public services in Jersey I think you’re deluding yourself.
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Deputy Pryke would save money and run a far more efficient health service if she cut out non-essential senior staff – this would probably meet the required savings all on its own!It’s a well known fact fact that the Health Service is top heavy – we need fewer chiefs and more indians.
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Well Nellie get your son to do something about it.
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28.Mick
If you get all your mates to vote for “non-establishment” candidates next time around maybe we might get some change – not much chance when the votes are weighted 28 to 24!
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