Health cut backs in Guernsey

Health minister Hunter Adam has announced £6m. of cuts. (Picture by Steve Sarre, 0904555)

PATIENTS could struggle to get the off-island treatment they need following a squeeze in the Health budget.
Health and Social Services plans to restrict the number of people sent away for treatment to save it £3m.
Combined with a raft of spending cuts announced yesterday it would enable the department to save £6m. in total.
Money for off-island treatment was ring-fenced last year, but it is now included within the department’s budget of just over £100m.
So it can no longer ask Treasury for more cash.
Health and Social Services chief officer David Hughes said there were two categories of off-island patient – those needing emergency care and those with longer term needs, such as mental health.
‘What we have to do is on the acute side and ensure that people who are sent away are not possible to treat on-island.’
He said that having already saved £3m. in 2006, making this year’s savings would be difficult.(from thisisguernsey)

some pf these cuts are diabolical.whilst i agree that too much is spent on locums etc,i find the cuts to services in bad taste.how can hunter adam justify charging people with learning disabilities for transport to and from the day centre,charge them for a meal whilst there and stop the £5 a week attendance money that has been paid to them for years.i believe the numbers who were paid the £5 a week was about 69 people.more could be saved by cutting down on admin staff at hssd and cutting back on the number of off island residential placements.in fact more could be saved by cutting back on the jaunts our beloved (pmsl)chief minister makes off island/at a substantial cost to the taxpayer.he was warned that cuts would have to be mad when he brought in 0/10 and now we are all having to pay the price.

IF WAITING times become longer than eight weeks because of health cuts, the Medical Specialist Group’s contract with the States may have to be re-negotiated.
Patients would also have the option of having operations off-island if waiting times were exceeded due to the fault of the MSG or Health and Social Services.
The department announced yesterday that it wants to implement cost-cutting measures to save £6m.
These include a reduction in the number of surgical beds and the number of agency and locum staff – which may result in longer waiting times for operations and appointments. Commenting on the possibility of increased waiting times, Health member Deputy Barry Brehaut (pictured) said people must see it in a Guernsey context and that the island had an excellent service.
‘The maximum eight-week wait we have at the moment would never be found on the NHS. There may need to be some discussions and movement with regards the contract with MSG,’ he said.
But Deputy Mary Lowe said the department had not agreed to longer waiting times. (from thisisguernsey)

What makes me mad is that if you want a operation privately and are willing to go to England you can get it down within 2 weeks, have it done privately over here two months or more minimum, and its the same specialist...

Are our Health department mad? the amount of money they are losing to hospitals in the UK for private care is stupid

Wake up Guernsey has a great opportunity in make £1000's on private health care work...

DEPUTY T&R MINISTER WANTS TO SEE MORE ISLANDERS PAYING FOR THEIR HEALTHCARE



Instead of finding ways to cut costs…,
Health and Social Services should find other ways to balance the books.
That is what the Deputy Minister of Treasury and Resources, Jack
Honeybill is telling us. HSSD have announced a raft of measures to try
and cut their spending by £6million. This will mean less off-island
treatment, fewer agency and locum staff, and a drop in the number of
surgical beds, and while Deputy Honeybill appreciates it is difficult
for the department to slash it's costs. He reckons introducing fees for
some of the services they provide islanders could be more effective. take from c&w website


fine for honeybill to say more of us must pay.what if you cant afford to pay but are not poor enough for medical help from the states .some peeps are in receipt of some supp benefit but dont qualify for medical bills to be paid.maybe honeybill would care to pay for soem peeps bills.before anybody comes back with the old chestnut of medical insurance i for one would be paying a fortune because of previous and ongoing health probs.

I agree Thistle - the man in question is 'retired' on a NatWest pension+states pension+payment for being a states member and he is saying we should pay for treatment we thought we had paid for out of our taxes.......the NHS is in trouble because it has an overload of quangos and so-called 'experts' all bleeding the system dry - looks like the same thing is happening here!! they have paid for overseas locums instead of regular workers (isn't one doctor/consultant/quango still suspended on full pay and has been for 2/3 years??) they spent our money like water doing their own thing and now it's come back to bite them on the bum - they shift the onus onto the sick, really needy and the elderly.....I know people who will not go to the doctor because it takes such a chunk out of their pension........Guernsey's caring, sharing society needs a major reality check!!!!!

No Karma. Their careless spending hasn't come back to bite them on the bum. It's come back to bite us on the bum.

As ever, when the hapless Hunter Adam looks to save money, the first line of attack is on the front line essential services instead of on the pen-pushing box tickers, off-island 'experts' [how come their expertise means we still have this mess????], ministerial salaries and perks, etc etc?

This guy just seems hell-bent on appeasing his mates [paymasters?] at MSG and bringing us into line with the so-called 'best practice' stuff inherent in the UK's failing NHS regime. At whatever cost - to us, but not to him of course.

And his rhetoric and spin [aka fibs] about the new clinical block have filled many a comedy hour in the local construction industry.

We know the truth Hunter. We speak to each other, including dialogue with those directly involved on this fiasco of a project. Might be lucky for you that arbitration is a private process. But only until it is appealed in the courts of course. Then you'll be exposed.