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 …

Jersey office in Thailand?

With Jersey extending its international identity and offices being opened all over the place to promote Jersey's name and our economic diversity - we took the opportunity to interview Mai and Mike....
They live in Bangkok and so know something about Thai matters besides which Mike is from Jersey...
So they could be useful people for Senators Bailhache, Maclean and Ozouf or Geoff Cook to consult when their next Asian jolly is being planned...

We had hoped to include some pix of Thailand and adjacent countries among the words here but the editing department has gone contrary and similar problems arose with the interview...
so if that does run out of sequence or repeats itself then the blame rests with the technophobes who try to produce these blogs to the best of our limited ability...
but if anybody has skills and spare time we would welcome any assistance.

Thanks to Mai and Mike for their time and the partygoers on the floor below for joining in and as always we welcome any comments... we will interview all people who have something to say... you only have to make contact and ask.

Dragon's Den - Ozouf style

We all know the TV prog – somebody has a great and original idea that will make them rich if only they had some start-up funding. They must make a sales pitch in a semi-derelict warehouse type building to a panel of tired old rich whiz-kids and try to persuade them that their crazy idea deserves to be financed in return for a share in the immense profits that will be generated…

It’s the classic greed is good for you and me and everybody else concept that fuels our capitalist system and Ozo of the Treasury has just come up with his very own localised version to be played out in Jersey.

It’s his latest cunning plan to follow on from previous brainstorming world-beaters, – namely Zero-Ten, The Agricultural Loan Scheme, Limited Liability Partnerships, the London Office, Tourism Development Fund, Intellectual Property Rights and the Fulfilment Industry – but this one he promises will beat them all – it’s a cracker!!!

So brilliant, that he has already been kissing frogs, Ozo told panel members today, because the sheer brilliance is that he already has the money - £10 millions in fact of public dosh – but his version of the challenge is to persuade the panel to let him give it away!! He actually does not need the money at all!!! And there is more where that comes from if necessary…

Like all brilliant ideas it’s the simplicity that is so amazing – almost scary – if I understood him correctly, as he gesticulated his way towards delirium and pointing vaguely towards Plemont.

Ozo outlined a specific example of the sort of dream that has been keeping him awake, so to speak. It’s an olde fashioned sweet shoppe called “True Innovation” - like he used to know as a kid - but in his modern version he plans to give away the gobstoppers and other sweet goodies in the form of grants and loans. Sweeteners by any standard and not without risks – but he was most insistent. There is no choice – if we want growth and diversity – then “innovation is the one measure to jump start that” and he promised very good measure to all his potential customers because we are a service based economy and we cannot risk our reputation…

Ozo was not alone. He had a team of slick talkers to promote his scheme – not that it needed much selling. Duggie and Jim were at hand to assist but it was mostly a Mr. King who explained the more technical stuff, like measuring “success.” But when he explained that the Shoppe might want some goodies back as part of a replenishment policy Ozo was not so keen and that seemed to please the Panel members who were reluctant to have used sweets re-circulated for some reason.

Nobody asked if Jersey Rugby was an example of a successful “Innovation” initiative but Mr King is Welsh and must surely know something about it…

Then Ozo warned that ultimate responsibility for the success of the venture would not rest with him at all but another chap called Maclean besides that Mr King’s head “was on the block to implement and manage risks” as CO.

The temperature certainly dropped a bit when he said that because on the public seats there were those who recalled what happened to a previous Mr King “on the block” in January 1649 and that was not very nice.

But then we remembered that Mr Pollard (another States CO) more recently  had a £250,000 plus pay-off packet when he was painlessly “resigned” and Mr Ogley (the States CEO) left with over £500,000 after Ozo’s everlasting acid drops finally wore him down and he lost his taste for the job.

Ironically at one stage, when asked about how things would be managed if anything did go wrong Ozo launched into a demi-lecture on “how things are run in the States” and that the Comptroller and Auditor General “will call in the papers.” He presumably did not mean the JEP.

There was certainly a slight hush at this point because it had been widely rumoured that the aged old gent with a beard was actually buried under the floor boards of the very room we were in since he has not been seen for months, having been so missed at the States’ Xmas party…

Anyway Ozo’s enthusiasm was such that he carried on talking long after the 5.00pm bell rang and he still had not managed to explain why the Jersey Business advice service which now cost £700,000 a year to fund was such better value than the former and very successful Jersey Business Venture which only cost £200,000 but he did suggest that his new wonder brainchild, “in his favourite phrase - was not - a self-service buffet.”

Jersey Dragons’ Den cast;

Economic Affairs Innovation Fund Scrutiny All-Male Sub-Panel;

Deputy Luce, Constables Pallett and Paddick.

NO CHARITY FOR THE JERSEY THIRD SECTOR

SILKWORTH LODGE CHARITY at Scrutiny

Scrutiny has been rumbling along for the past few weeks looking at the Health and Housing White Papers and the Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP).

The same Ministers and their teams of officers have been appearing more often than a number 18 bus as witnesses to explain their proposed policies.

Tomorrow (Wednesday 1 August) Sen Ozouf will be in the hot seat again to justify his MTFP before the Corporate Services Panel (3pm) and he will be followed by CM Gorst (4.30pm).

Same old PR stuff again I expect. Everything is wonderful. Times are tough but Jersey is still the leading Finance Centre in the world and our economy is as sound as a bell…

Yesterday however there was an extraordinary and different account from witnesses before the Health, Social Security and Housing Panel. The Panel consisted of just Deputies Hilton and Reed (with an adviser who mumbles his name). The witnesses were Frank Laine and Jason Wyse from the Silkworth Lodge Charity Group and they delivered a startling and shocking criticism of Health Department policies and behaviour.

Constable Murphy of Grouville sat in the public seats as an observer and Trustee of the Charity.

To say that the whole room was shocked by their account is no exaggeration.

Silkworth has been delivering an essential re-habillitation service in Jersey for alcoholics and drug users for decades.

Such is their level of expertise at Silkworth that many clients are referred to them from outside Jersey. In fact Guernsey sends more than any other agency and UK regulators say that Silkworth would be in the top three of similar establishments if it was on the mainland.

Silkworth in Jersey claims never to turn anybody away who needs help but its 12 bed spaces are costed-out at up to £2,000 each per week – although six are offered locally at £600 - and this unique service is an essential facility in this Island where alcohol and drug abuse is such a seriously destructive problem.

The “Priory” in England charges £5,000 they explained, so Silkworth is providing a top-notch service at a very reasonable cost.

Thousands of people have benefited from the work at Silkworth over the years – not just those directly treated because as the witnesses explained, the tentacles of destruction affect so many relatives and friends of those who receive treatment.

Yet the Health Department has pulled the financial bung. The Service Level Agreement appears to have been arbitrarily cancelled and no more clients have been referred to Silkworth this year by the Health Department or its agencies.

As the witnesses explained, Silkworth had actually been paid the final payment of £200,000 of public money but no more clients have been sent and as they said - any other charity would be afraid to declare this in public because it would be damaging to the relationship with government.

That was the most frightening thing because the witnesses were not just complaining about the failure of the Health Department to communicate or negotiate with them – they were also expressing disgust that the whole Jersey charitable sector was in danger of being sucked into government control. A large part of the third sector is in a state of anxiety about what is going in, with threats of withdrawal of SLAs or contracts between government and charitable providers.

And they spoke too about “Roseneath”, the Charitable home closed down before last Xmas after Health had pulled out the financial rug.

The witnesses had attempted to secure Roseneath after the failure to join with Silkworth but in spite of negotiations and meetings with Health Department officers had only just this week, read in the local media, that Health had trumped them and secured it for itself.

The irony is of course that the Health White Paper declares that it – the Health Department - will provide alcohol and drug treatment in Jersey as part of the whole new package of care in the community etc.

But who, asked the witnesses, is actually going to provide this treatment, if Silkworth does not?

We hope to return with a video report on this matter shortly….

Deputy Bob Duhamel and OZO's latest cunning plan...

Click on video - Bob is there but is hiding....

M*T*F*P* Scrutiny Review Hearing No1

Today – 23 July – it was Deputy Bob Duhamel who opened the batting for the good guys v the Council of Ministers and Senator Ozouf’s latest brainwave, namely the “Mid-Term Financial Plan.”

OZO has cunningly arranged for this to be sprung upon the “nation” during the summer hols so that even the Environment Scrutiny Panel had only had a few hours to study the vast document.

Rest assured that the paying Jersey public will have virtually zero chance to discuss it or learn to love it or hate it before the States Assembly endorse it in October or November.

With all the current and recent “public consultations” going on with electoral, social security, housing, health, Taser issues etc – nobody but a glutton could possibly have any appetite to swallow this latest offering. And, of course OZO and his team know that very well.

As always, yours truly was the only member of the public to sit through today’s 90 minutes of concealed despair from Bob Duhamel – hung out to dry for following the CSP aims and achieving the demanded savings of 19% so it seems. Now his Planning Department just does not have the funds or resources to carry out even the minimal tasks set down in the recently agreed Island Plan!

Well and truly shafted – all in the name of USER PAYS – because as Bob explained Jersey Planning and Building Control fees are probably already the highest on the planet and they are about to be increased considerably yet again.

Never mind that Building Control fees are already down 50% on last year's and if they do not pick up there will have to be further savings or yet more price hikes.

Other Departments and their Ministers will now trudge through the same Scrutiny rooms to appear before other Panels. Tomorrow it will be Sen Le Marquand explaining why the Fire and Ambulance service will want proof of an Insurance Policy before turning out for an emergency and why the Prison is being emptied through “repatriation” to save costs.

Later in the day it will be TTS – and they are sure to be asked about their composting and scrap yard costs because Bob flagged those up today as examples of funding that will be agreed and then diverted to other uses (just a matter of £3 millions so nothing serious!).

On Thursday the Minister for Education will be looked at and perhaps he will have a cunning plan to make all schooling USER PAYS too and maybe nobody will even notice?