In brief: Jersey’s Health and Care department spent £246,542 on taxis for patients in the Southampton area in 2025, up from £140,594 in 2023, a rise of more than 75% in two years. The figures, released under a Freedom of Information request, come as the government reviews its patient travel policy amid warnings that the health budget is under growing pressure.
The Numbers That Caught Everyone’s Attention
The BBC reports that spending on taxi provision for Jersey patients visiting Southampton hospital and the surrounding area has risen sharply over a short period. In 2023, Health and Care Jersey spent £140,594 on taxis. By 2025, that figure had climbed to £246,542, a jump of just over 75% in two years.
Health and Care Jersey has noted that the figures cover travel across areas around Southampton and “cannot be considered representative of expenditure on taxis for patients attending Southampton hospital alone.” In other words, the taxi bill is not solely for trips between the port and the hospital, but for a broader range of journeys in the region. That clarification is worth bearing in mind, though it does not make the trajectory of the spending any less striking.
What the Policy Actually Says
Under the government’s patient travel policy, travel from a port to a UK hospital should ordinarily be on services contracted by Health and Care Jersey. Where that is not possible, patients are expected to use public transport and pay for it themselves, with costs reimbursed by the Travel Office. Taxis or hire cars are available where there is a medical reason, or where it is not “possible or practical” to use other means, with the Travel Office able to pre-book them as appropriate.
On the face of it, the policy sounds reasonable enough. The difficulty, as the spending figures suggest, is that the threshold for what counts as “not possible or practical” may be interpreted rather broadly in practice. When taxi spending rises by three-quarters in two years, it is fair to ask whether the policy is being applied as intended, or whether it has quietly become a rather comfortable default.
A Review Is Under Way
The surge in spending has not gone unnoticed. The BBC reports that patient travel costs are already under review, following remarks by a Health Board leader who described the current arrangements as “very generous.” Health Minister Tom Binet has since said he would consider whether “UK travel should continue to be paid for all patients in all circumstances.”
Minister Binet said: “The health budget is under growing pressure… it is essential that all our resources are used in the most effective way.” He added that officers are “actively working to ensure that the costs we currently pay represent value for money.”
Those are sensible words, and the review is clearly overdue. Jersey’s off-island medical travel arrangements exist for good reason: the island does not have the full range of specialist services available on the mainland, and patients who need treatment in Southampton should not be left stranded or out of pocket. But a 75% increase in taxi spending over two years, without any obvious corresponding increase in patient numbers or clinical complexity, is precisely the kind of thing a well-run health department ought to have spotted and questioned well before a Freedom of Information request brought it to public attention.
Source: BBC News
