Minister calls for health budget to be increased

Jersey's health minister wants the departmental budget to be increased by 5% more than inflation for the next few years

Jersey's health minister has called for an increase to the island's health funding, after a forecast predicted the department would be £18m over budget for 2025.

Jersey's auditor general, Lynn Pamment, said the rapid rise in spending was a cause for concern and said previous money-saving recommendations had yet to be brought in.

Deputy Tom Binet, the health minister, wants a 5%-above-inflation budget increase for several years, to keep up with the costs of new treatments and people living longer.

He said calling the situation an overspend had damaged staff morale and was "very negative", as health had not received enough budget in the past.

"It's made life very challenging for the people who are trying to turn around the health service," he said.

Binet said modern science kept on introducing "better drugs [and] better treatment", which cost more money.

He said his department was expected to deliver "what it delivered the year before plus whatever else was thrown its way - all of that costs money."