Charging more for healthcare in Guernsey is being considered

Friday, 3 May 2024 08:07

The health committee says it needs more money to carry out its remit and told a Scrutiny hearing it's considering a number of charging options.

The Health Committee is Guernsey's biggest spender and costs continue to rise.

The hospital modernisation project is between £20M to £30M over budget.

New health committee vice president Marc Leadbeater will now oversee the programme, helped by new committee appointee deputy Gavin St Pier.

And, it's just been announced that the transfer of patient records from the old Track system to a new one is being delayed by around six months. The cost implications of that are being assessed.

Health costs featured prominently at the Scrutiny Committee hearing yesterday (2 May) and committee president Al Brouard warned that to carry out its remit, it will need more revenue:

"We can't provide services in this century on last century's taxes. The services we require will need a substantial increase in charges or raising funds, whether that's income tax, or GST, or whatever it is."

Deputy Brouard said other, more direct methods of charging for healthcare at the point of receiving it are being considered, like increased A&E fees and the price of prescriptions.