A SENIOR consultant has called for bold political decisions to secure Jersey’s health funding – warning that the current system is “running on empty” and that simply topping up budgets amounts to “assisted dying” for the Island’s health department.
Neil MacLachlan MBE, FRCOG, who was a Consultant Obstetrician-Gynecologist for the States of Jersey for over 30 years and now runs the Lido Women’s Health Hub, said sustained underfunding had left morale low, sickness levels high and recruitment of specialist consultants increasingly difficult. He argued that without major reform, Jersey risked losing both patients and staff to better-resourced systems overseas.
“Year on year underfunding has led to high staff sickness rates, poor morale, difficulty in recruitment of consultant specialists, with many patients looking to the private sector and going to the UK or abroad for private care,” he said. “This is loss of revenue for the Island and results in disjointed medical care and inconvenience for the patient.”
To plug these gaps, Ministers’ 2026 Budget – which is due to be debated later this year – proposes £381m in funding for Health next year, the biggest boost for any department. More than £60m – £15.6m a year until 2029 – is earmarked to plug the department’s long-running deficit.
Health Minister Tom Binet has also confirmed that certain treatments and interventions – such as varicose vein and tonsil removals – may no longer be free in future, and that Jersey may move away from some UK guidelines, as part of a programme to combat rising costs.
But Mr MacLachlan suggested Jersey could learn from Australia’s Medicare system, which is largely funded through a 2% income levy and supported by incentives for residents to take out private medical insurance.
He argued that such a model would provides a sustainable balance between public provision and private choice.
The Australian system encourages people to get private medical insurance by penalising higher earners who do not, while subsidising premiums for younger people.
“It should not be difficult to model what revenue such a system would produce in Jersey, still a relatively low-tax jurisdiction,” he said. “Many businesses are already offering private medical insurance which serves to attract talent, reduces absenteeism and gets employees back to work faster and also makes them feel valued.”
“If the Minister is to create yet another health advisory board, then first on the agenda I hope will be a good look at the way Jersey health could be more appropriately funded. This will require some good modelling and then potentially some bold decisions. A close look at the Australian system would be a good starting place,” Mr MaLachlan added.
- Read Mr MacLachlan’s column in the Opinion section of today’s paper.
