CLOSING an £18 million deficit in Health’s 2024 budget may not be achievable without “serious impacts” to services, the Health Advisory Board has warned.
At its monthly meeting today, the board is due to receive an update on this year’s financial position.
Minutes of the board’s last meeting reveal scepticism that the shortfall can be met without additional funding from the Treasury.
They indicate that Carolyn Downs – one of the board’s non-executive directors who was chairing the meeting – “suggested that the board’s view is that the £18m is not achievable without serious impacts to service and therefore there needs to be political conversations as to the implications and whether the deficit could be ameliorated by the government of Jersey”.
Last month, Treasury Minister Elaine Miller said work needed to be done to close the gap and that she did not want to see it getting larger, but the board has added its weight to fears that there may be limited scope for financial improvement this year. The projected deficit is blamed by health officials on a combination of factors, among them: delays in achieving savings, rising costs of tertiary care contracts, increased activity, non-staff inflation including the cost of drugs and the costs of implementing the Royal College reviews into medicines and maternity services.
April’s board minutes record that chief executive Chris Bown is in agreement that “the task at present is to ensure that the £18m deficit does not increase”. They continue: “In conclusion, the board supports the Minster for Health and Social Services’ view that additional funding will need to be given in this financial year.
“However, this does not mean that HCS will not deliver every efficiency possible and that in the long term we will not continue to seek better, more efficient ways of working.
“It would be irresponsible not to raise this formally and therefore the board wishes to raise this formally and support the MHSS in progressing this.”
