From Maurice Boots.
OVER many years a great number of Jersey lives have been saved at no cost to the desperately ill by the reciprocal health agreement Jersey has enjoyed with the UK.

National Health Service care and treatment that was second to none has been given to Islanders which they could not have otherwise received.

In return, Jersey’s hospital has, in general, treated visitors from the UK who fell ill at a cost of £300,000, for which the UK government was charged £3.9 million. The UK authorities have, not surprisingly, found this unacceptable and have decided to discontinue a service vital for many ordinary Jersey residents of moderate means.

As a first step, before any negotiations for the reinstatement of the reciprocal agreement start, our States should immediately return the past overcharges to the UK government, with the profound apologies of all the Islanders on whose behalf they have apparently acted with a complete lack of integrity.