Stroke survivor leaves Jersey due to cost of care

Pam Evans says care is more affordable in Kenya than Jersey

A Jersey woman is leaving the island because she says the equivalent level of care in Kenya is more affordable.

Pam Evans has lived in Jersey for 45 years but since she had a stroke in 2004, she needs more help and support.

She and her husband previously lived in East Africa when they took up teaching posts, and both her daughters were born there.

"We weren't there for an awful long time", she said, "but long enough for Kenya to get into our hearts really because it's such a beautiful country".

Cost of care

Mrs Evans' husband died while they were on holiday in Kenya last year and she feels a connection to the country, but it's the cost of care in Jersey that has influenced her decision to leave.

She currently needs help with domestic chores such as washing and cleaning, and said "living on my own as a disabled person is difficult, and if I get carers in it’s costly for me living on a teachers pension”.

She said she is able to access more affordable care in Kenya: "I can get help in the house, every day for four hours and I can get all my food provided for a month is actually probably half of what a week would cost me in a care home in Jersey.

"I love Jersey but it doesn't meet my needs as I get older".

The States of Jersey said it could not comment on the relative costs of care in Kenya.