Government CEO defends response to healthcare report

The Government of Jersey's chief executive officer (CEO) has insisted that the future of healthcare funding is "a significant priority" following criticism from a scrutiny panel.

Deputy Karen Wilson accused Paul Wylie of delivering an "underwhelming" response to an official report on the issue.

In July, the government's spending watchdog said the "risk of rising expenditure on health has been known for a long time, and that prioritised action is needed".

Wylie said if their response had given the impression that it was not a priority, the truth was "absolutely the opposite".

The exchange came in a quarterly meeting of the Public Accounts Committee – a scrutiny panel made up of politicians responsible for assessing government spending.

If approved, next year's budget will see funding for the Health Department increase again, from £381m in 2026 to £406m in 2027.

During the hearing, chair of the panel Wilson made reference to a report from the Jersey Audit Office published in July which detailed the risks facing the health service, and the actions needed to address them.

The report also suggested the government needed to provide a public explanation of the scale of the challenges within the health service before introducing any new charges.

Those are expected to be announced in 2027.

In an official response, the government accepted most of the recommendations, saying "that long-term healthcare funding is a significant strategic challenge".

It called the review "a useful evidence base for future policy development" with "significant work already under way" to resolve issues.

Scrutiny politicians said they "remain concerned that several recommendations have been only partially accepted or do not fully address the underlying issues identified... particularly in relation to planning, transparency, public engagement and the delivery of long term healthcare reform".

In the hearing, Wilson, who is a former health minister, summarised it as "a little underwhelming" and asked whether he would re-think his approach given the challenges facing the health department.

Wylie said future funding of the service was "very much a live issue for officials and for ministers".

He said: "If we cannot find a sustainable method of funding, the health service will then continue to dominate all spending decisions in this decade and certainly into the 2030s.

"If you took from our response that we did not consider it a priority, it's absolutely the opposite. It's one of the most significant priorities."

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