This content has been automatically generated from the original PDF and some formatting may have been lost. Let us know if you find any major problems.
Text in this format is not official and should not be relied upon to extract citations or propose amendments. Please see the PDF for the official version of the document.
SOUTHAMPTON HOSPITAL: PETITION (P.133/99) - REPORT _______________
Presented to the States on 7th December 1999 by the Health and Social Services Committee
______________________________
STATES OF JERSEY
STATES GREFFE
175 1 9 9 9 P . 1 3 3 R p t .
Price code: A
REPORT
Introduction
The Deputy of St. Peter lodged a petition on 14th September 1999, which asked the States to request the Health and Social Services Committee "to consult widely with the public of the Island and take their views into consideration, before taking any decision which could adversely affect Jersey's long-standing relationship with Southampton Hospital".
Context
The petition had been collected in response to a review of all specialist health care services provided in the United Kingdom which was at that time being undertaken by officers of the Health and Social Services Committee.
The review was initiated in response to two main factors -
• th e increasing cost of specialist care in the United Kingdom which needed addressing urgently in order to maintain the Reciprocal Agreement with the United Kingdom in balance;
• a r adical change in the United Kingdom National Health Service financial arrangements which had the effect
of limiting our access to specialist treatment centres.
The petition was made before the Committee had completed the review and had not yet fully identified the options open to it. However, the view of the public was well-known to the Committee and statements were made in order to offer reassurance that the Committee was, at all times during the negotiation process, mindful of all the issues for patients and their families.
The Committee's paramount concern throughout was to secure the highest quality of care possible, in the most appropriate place, for the best price.
Current status
The review is now largely complete and the Committee has come to an agreement with Southampton University Hospitals Trust, which secures cancer services, amongst a wide range of specialist treatments at that centre.
Agreements still have to be reached with a further 20 or so hospitals which we also regularly use, and we will similarly be seeking to improve the clinical care and comfort of patients and their families through the negotiation process with these hospitals.
The negotiations so far have produced savings of several hundreds of thousands of pounds for the coming year - this means considerably better value for the taxpayer, but we have also reinforced our commitment to Southampton and to the other centres with which we have forged good relationships over a period of years.
I trust that the petitioners are reassured that the Committee has secured a successful outcome for patients and taxpayers and has taken their concerns very much to heart in the process.