YOUNG Islanders could receive free GP consultations if an amendment to the Government Plan is approved.
Deputy Carina Alves is calling for an additional £800,000 to be made available to the Health Department to cover the cost of visits for under-18s.
Her Reform Jersey colleague Deputy Geoff Southern successfully brought a proposition – that was amended by ministers – in 2020 which requested the then-Health Minister Richard Renouf to ‘devise a scheme which improves access to primary care by reducing financial barriers for patients who are financially, clinically or socially vulnerable’.
Deputy Alves, in her amendment, said: ‘Shortly after, in response to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, the minister devised a different scheme which reduced the cost of GP consultations for all patients, rich and poor alike, and made Covid-19 consultations, along with some other services, free.
‘As part of this scheme, telephone or face-to-face consultation fees for children and young people between the age of four and 17 was set at £10. This level of fee, while welcome when compared to the previous level of £40, still has problems associated with it.’
This lasted for around four months, before reverting to usual levels.
In late 2020, the government announced the Health Access Scheme, which provided low GP fees for those living in households receiving income support payments.
Deputy Alves added: ‘The current primary care system is unaffordable to many and inaccessible to many children and young people who may be in dire need of GP services to address their physical and mental-health needs after the pandemic.
‘Some who are ill may put off that visit to the doctor until they are so ill that they need far more expensive hospital treatment. For many, the recent times have seen largely struggle and debt as jobs and hours have been lost and family incomes reduced.
‘The last thing we should be doing is to add the stress of high doctor’s bills to the anxiety many are suffering as they try to make ends meet in these times of hardship.’
The Government Plan is due to be debated during the States sitting beginning on Monday 12 December.
