Guernsey patients to pay for GP in hospital

Long-stay patients in Guernsey's Corbinerie ward and in the King Edward VII Hospital will pay for GP visits from next month.

The health department currently covers the cost of GP visits to residents of the wards, but the service will be withdrawn from 1 September.

The department says it will save more than £100,000 per year.

The average cost of a GP visit in Guernsey is £54, although that can vary depending on insurance contributions.

The health department says it operates a model of nurse-led care at the Corbinerie wards and the King Edward the VII Hospital.

When the contract with healthcare company Primary Care came up for renewal this summer the department decided not to extend it.

This will bring it in line with the Duchess of Kent and all private-sector care homes, where residents already pay to see a GP.

Malcolm Nutley, acting chief officer of health, said there was an exception to the policy for patients in hospital on a short-term basis.

If someone was admitted to one of the assessment beds on the Corbinerie wards, his or her GP visits would still be paid for by the States, he said.

Mr Nutley said: "The contract was coming to an end, we had a look at whether we wanted to renew and decided medical services were by and large being provided in these wards.

"They have visiting consultants and so the need for family doctors on the wards is not so frequent and when it does happen it is reasonable to expect residents to pay for that as they would in a private nursing home."