Health Minister Anne Pryke said that the review was needed because the Island’s health, community and social services were ‘rapidly approaching a major crossroads’.

It will be carried out by a healthcare advisory team from one of the world’s largest professional services and accounting firms, KPMG, which has carried out a similar review for the NHS.

Julie Garbutt, the chief executive of Health, said that the cost was justified because consultants would be working with her department for six to nine months and would be deploying a large number of people. She said that they had specialist skills and were world leaders in their field.