Uncertainty amid possible cuts to treatments

Deputy Louise Doublet said there were unanswered questions about where extra money for health would come from or how it would be spent

It is "unclear" how islanders will be impacted by possible cuts to some elective surgeries and treatments, a health chief has said.

Deputy Louise Doublet, chair of Jersey's Health and Social Security Panel, spoke out following suggestions that some non-critical medical procedures could be discontinued as part of cost-saving measures.

Health minister Tom Binet said on Friday his department was reviewing "routine elective procedures and treatments" which had "limited clinical value" or were not value for money.

Doublet said: "I think what I'm not clear on is what the impact of these changes to the elective procedure list, what that impact is going to have on islanders."

Binet had said he planned to ask the States Assembly to approve a major increase in health funding later this year.

Health chiefs revealed in April that the department was expected to go £18m over budget this year

As a result, his department had been "under considerable pressure" to deliver efficiencies in the health service "at a time of sharply rising costs".

Doublet said all politicians understood there was a need for more money for healthcare, but there were "questions that remain unanswered" about where the money would come from or be spent".

"I know that the Health Minister is taking it very seriously," she added.