HEALTH spending with taxi firms in Southampton and surrounding areas rose by 75% in two years, reaching almost £250,000 last year, new figures reveal.
The increase came as more Jersey patients attended hospital in the city, with appointment numbers rising by around a third between 2023 and 2025.
Figures released under the Freedom of Information Law show that expenditure with local taxi companies increased from £140,594 in 2023 to £179,047 in 2024, before reaching £246,542 last year.
However, the Health Department stressed that the figures included travel in surrounding areas and could not be treated as the taxi bill solely for patients attending Southampton hospital. Isolating those costs would require manually reviewing and reconciling individual financial entries.
The disclosure follows figures showing that accommodating Jersey patients sent to Southampton cost nearly £740,000 last year, up 32% from £560,612 in 2024.
The latest response shows that 954 patients attended hospital in Southampton in 2025, compared with 910 in 2024 and 785 in 2023 – an increase of around 22% over two years.
They attended 4,272 appointments last year, up from 3,969 in 2024 and 3,169 in 2023.
Health said it could not directly identify how many attendances were specifically for treatment, although that information would be recorded in individual patients’ care records.
The average weekly cost of accommodation at Southampton’s Ocean Village complex, where apartments have been used to accommodate Jersey patients receiving hospital care, fell from £952 in 2023 to £841 in 2025.
The figures come amid scrutiny of off-Island travel support. Health Advisory Board chair Carolyn Downs previously described travel costs as “quite generous”, asking: “Given our financial position, we really do need to think about it, don’t we?”
Head of access Emily Hoban told the board at its most recent meeting that alternative accommodation providers were being considered through a tender process.
“There’s a whole array of taxi costs and train travel costs that we’re also reviewing,” she said.
Overall off-Island care spending, including flights, medical evacuations, treatment and accommodation, fell from £25 million in 2024 to £19 million last year.
