A new Reciprocal Health Agreement (RHA) between the UK and Jersey has been signed which allows islanders access to NHS treatment in the UK, and correspondingly UK visitors if they fall ill in Jersey .
Jersey residents welcomed the news as they have had to pay for their own medical services in the UK since April 2009, when the original reciprocal agreement was dissolved. Until then, the agreement had been established since 1979.
The Island’s Health and Social Services minister Anne Pryke said: I know that islanders consider this an important agreement and it is also useful for friends and family in the UK to have peace of mind. Now, UK visitors can come to Jersey, and islanders can travel to the UK with the freedom of knowing they will not be charged for hospital care.”
She added that although the new RHA covers treatment, it will not cover the costs associated with repatriation in the event that an islander is taken ill in the UK and unable to return to Jersey on a conventional flight . It is therefore recommended that islanders still take out travel insurance to cover them in this eventuality.