Yulia and the Ukrainian and French caring models

Yulia was interviewed recently on holiday in Jersey following a serious road accident in the Ukraine and her subsequent treatment in the hospitals of that country and in Paris.
Part 1 is about 20 minutes (below)

Part 2 is about 13 minutes

The Ukraine is an unlikely role model for setting up a new health service – but it seems to be where Jersey might be headed.

“User Pays” is the sub-text to most of the financial reforms issued out of Senator Ozouf’s mouth and his collective work with Deputy Pryke for a complete redesign of Health and Care provisions and charges in this Island is a frightening manifesto, if one digs below the PR spin.

That such ideas as paying for the emergency ambulance that takes you to hospital – if you have the money – or the food that you eat when occupying a hospital bed - are being floated, should be enough to ring the alarm bells.

But the whole package of elderly and sick people “caring for themselves in their own homes” (if they are fortunate enough to have a home!) and of harnessing the “Third Sector” (aka charities and volunteers) into service providing “contracts” is just another layer that should be attracting much more public concern.

Coupled with the reintroduction of “prescription charges” and the transformation of modest traditional GPs surgeries into mini-hospitals where all sorts of treatments are carried out and medicines dispensed through in-house pharmacies while every appointment, consultation, letter, bandage, injection, treatment or word of advice etc etc incurs a hefty bill…and of course such facilities as the A and E department of the newly built General Hospital (if there is to be such a thing) is only open to treat the fully paid up near-dead…so a whole peel of warning bells should be clanging in or ears.

Besides which nobody seems to be keen to defend the existing Jersey policy of providing vastly different standards of treatment and care in the names of public or private provision. Just why should a hand-full of cash or the flash of an insurance certificate, or an influential ‘phone call be the key to receiving proper treatment in accordance with supposed professional standards?

Here Yulia, a young Russian born resident of Ukraine describes her care seeking experiences in that country following an horrendous accident with two cars…from the pay as you go ambulance, to the buy your own blood transfusion and drugs, bribing of doctors and specialists and pay pay pay for everything before being dumped back on the street as “cured”- yet barely able to stand.

It couldn’t happen here? Well just think about it. Then consider whether Jersey should be aiming for the French solution - which has come Yulia’s rescue with its 400 years old tradition of caring for the sick  – or do we prefer to flirt with the ultimate “user pays” example of caring a la Ukraine …