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The cost of seeing a doctor in Jersey is now £20 cheaper than in Guernsey after the States there agreed a new subsidy for a standard ten-minute appointment.
That has reduced the price of a consultation in Jersey to £40 at some practices, compared to around £62 in Guernsey.
Guernsey's Health and Social Care Committee President has confirmed that is unlikely to change, arguing that HSC can't do anything similar here due to the "significant budgetary pressures" facing the States.
Pictured: The news was announced in Jersey on Wednesday.
Jersey's Social Security Minster Elaine Millar announced the island's new £20 GP fee reduction scheme earlier this week.
It will only apply to visits in normal surgery hours – home or out-of-hours visits, telephone consultations, and consultations with other health professionals, such as nurses or health care assistants, will continue to be supported by other Health Insurance Fund agreements and not by this new scheme.
Members of Jersey's Health Access Scheme already pay a reduced fee of £12 for a GP and so the £20 reduction will not be applied.
Jersey is also hoping to introduce free GP visits for children as soon as July.
Pictured: A standard GP appointment at Jersey's Island Medical Centre rose from £54.50 to £64 at the beginning of April 2023.
Guernsey's doctor appointments are subject to a £12 grant payable by the island's Social Security fund. Any patient who is not eligible for the Medical Grant would have to pay £12 on top of the advertised fee.
The advertised fee for Island Health (L'Aumone, St Sampson's, and Town surgeries) is £62 for an adult's appointment. The Healthcare Group website (High Street, Cobo, Rohais, and St Martin's) states that it charges £60 while Queen's Road Medical Practice (Queen's Road and Le Lingerie) has a listed fee of £64.60.
Each of the three GP groups charges £25 for a standard child's appointment.
Island Health charges an additional £5 for any appointment not paid for at the time of attendance, while Healthcare Group adds on £7. QRMP does not list any additional charge for appointments not paid for at the time on its website, instead saying: "All charges must be paid at the time of consultation."
Pictured: Doctor's charges were under the spotlight back in 2019 in Guernsey.
Guernsey's GP fees have been subject to scrutiny in the past with calls for a review into the cost of the ten-minute appointments pre-dating the covid pandemic.
Data collected through a 2018 survey found "a worryingly high proportion of people have 'unmet health care needs', meaning they don't go and see a doctor when they have something they want to ask about".
In April 2020, HSC said it wanted to accelerate plans to make doctor's appointments more affordable as covid took a hold on the Bailiwick.
The committee had started a review into the fee and grant structure but that was paused with the arrival of covid.
Pictured: Jersey's GP appointments are now at least £20 cheaper than in Guernsey.
During August 2020, HSC confirmed it had agreed a new fee structure for under 18s with a flat rate of £25 to be charged by all GPs. That came in the following year.
Since then, the financial constraints the States face has increased with HSC President Deputy Al Brouard saying yesterday that he would like to do more to help patients financially, but he is unable to at present.
"While Primary Care operates entirely separately from the States of Guernsey, HSC recognises that the affordability of Primary Care appointments is an important consideration for government as it has the potential to influence how and when islanders assess health care.
"HSC would not want cost to be a barrier for any islander seeking to access care," he said.
Pictured: Guernsey's HSC President, Deputy Al Brouard.
Deputy Brouard said HSC has already done what it can to offer support to those facing financial difficulties to ensure they can access healthcare but "there isn't a simple answer" to enable universal reductions.
"Measures are already in place that offer support for those on low incomes through Employment & Social Security. We were also pleased to be able to introduce low cost appointments for those under 18 years of age in 2022. Additionally, a number of screening and preventative programmes are also funded by HSC and delivered through Primary Care to improve access to key services and remove fees at the point of use for islanders.
"HSC would like to do more to provide greater financial support for Primary Care services but, as islanders will be aware, the States is subject to significant budgetary pressures. There isn’t a simple answer which would allow for a universal reduction in charges in a Guernsey context. If measures are introduced in the future, HSC would be keen to explore how to provide more targeted, financial support. While we know that the current grant system of £12 and £6 for all GP and nurse appointments has benefits for the population as a whole, there will be some groups of islanders where that doesn’t go far enough in improving affordability, and we need to think about how we can focus on these islanders. Due to competing demands across the States we don’t have a timeframe for developing proposals."
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