GPs leading Jersey Doctors on Call have asked for the States to underwrite the service with £300,000 a year to make it financially viable for some doctors to be on call between 11pm and 8am. If the money is not promised, the service will stop after 30 June and Islanders will not be able to access a GP during those hours.
Now, a mother-of-two has called on the service to be saved. Natalie Culpit, who has a seven-year-old and and an 18-month-old, said the service was ‘so important to Jersey’. She has called doctors out in the middle of the night, which costs up to £150, and used the JDOC’s free phone-help service.
‘It takes the pressure off A&E and means you don’t have to go down there and wait for hours. Sometimes you wouldn’t feel comfortable going to A&E for some things, but I can call a GP on the phone service and get advice and they can say “Yeah bring them in” if they think I need to,’ she said.
‘It is a service that is greatly needed.’
Earlier this month GPs involved with JDOC held an extraordinary general meeting in a bid to secure the future of JDOC’s overnight availability. Doctors say that volunteering to offer the service costs each GP £4,000 a year due to extra insurance costs and loss of earnings.
Dr Phillip Terry, chairman of JDOC, said that unless the States gave an indication that they are willing to pledge to underwrite the service at a cost of £300,000 per year – which equates to about £3 per Islander – the late-night programme would end.
Health Minister Richard Renouf said his department were assessing the potential impact of JDOC ceasing its overnight service on the States and other agencies.
‘Under the leadership of the Health and Community Services’ medical director and in consultation with JDOC, we will ensure we have appropriate services in place to provide Islanders with 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week access to emergency care during the overnight and weekend periods, if GP services are to cease, from the beginning of July,’ the minister said in a statement.
Island GPs are not contractually obliged to be part of the out-of-hours Jersey Doctor’s On Call system, which is based at the Hospital. Instead, they pay subscription fees to join the service and are allocated evening, night and weekend shifts throughout the year, during which time they are able to charge any patients that they see.
For doctors who cannot cover overnight shifts, they can pay for a locum. Currently, 36 doctors provide cover during the course of the year, but just three are responsible for 50% of all night shifts.
