Islanders need to take responsibility for their own health

Sunday 15 October 2017

Islanders need to wake up and do more to look after their health. If they don't, a report says, there's going to be a dramatic increase in the number of islanders suffering from 'preventable' medical conditions in the next few decades.

Bernard Place, the Project Manager who is responsible for the clinical preparations for the new Hospital says that the Statistics Unit's Disease Projections only gives a "worse case scenario" picture and shows what will happen to the Island's health if nothing is done.

The report by the Public Health Statistics Unit shows that many chronic conditions will see an increase in the number of patients affected in the next 20 years. For example, it was estimated that nearly 10% of the population could be obese in just under 20 years, while hypertension is set to rise by as much as 46% to 21,400 people.

Mr Place explained that while the findings of the report might seem worrying, they were entirely preventable. He says most of the diseases contained in the report - coronary heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes, heart failure, obesity and hypertension - are diseases of lifestyle and the report should be a wake-up call to change unhealthy habits.

Pictured: The projected numbers of patients affected by chronic conditions.

He told Express: "People can decide whether they want a healthy old age or an unhealthy old age. We have a choice as individuals on what we do and we can decide to do things now that will affect the future. In some cases, islanders don’t have a choice but certainly in areas like obesity, smoking, alcohol and all these things, lifestyle, diet and exercise those are choices that we have. Those conditions are mostly preventable but not curable. Once you have them, you have a long-term condition but if you avoid getting them, you have more years of good health." 

According to Mr Place, even if the States put policies in place to encourage people to lead healthier lives, they can't force anyone to actually follow them. Equally, islanders can not rely on the States to look after their health. He says: "There is a whole set of things that are not in our gift here. We can support and drive some of the primary healthcare initiatives in smoking, obesity and alcohol, but it always comes down to people changing their behaviour. Many of these behaviours are set down very early in life, it starts at home, in school, in the workplace. This is a very important report it shows what will happen if we do nothing and also raises the challenge of what are we going to do and that isn’t just the Ministers or the Hospital, that is up to every islander to take responsibility where they can."

Pictured: "The success of the new hospital is as dependent on what happens outside of the hospital as what happens inside it," says Bernard Place.

But if every islander starts looking after their health and eating their five-a-day, one could say that the island won't need a new hospital. It is sadly not so easy, as Mr Place says that "no society has managed to get rid of the need for a hospital and Jersey is no different." As the project manager explained, the new hospital is being planned on the assumption that the population is getting older and that older people use more health facilities and will be able to cope with that increased demand. However the Health Department could face a much bigger challenge if the necessary steps are not taken.

Mr Place says: " If we don’t do anything, we will need to build a hospital that is much bigger than the one we can afford and need to build. Health can’t be hospital-centric. We can’t build a health system where we rely on a hospital to provide care for people where that care could be better provided outside. The success of the new hospital is as dependent on what happens outside of the hospital as what happens inside it."

Therefore developing primary care, such as GPs, pharmacists and dentists is as important as the decision on the funding of the new hospital and introducing health policies. Mr Place says: "We have to find a way to keep people out of hospital where possible and recognise that when they do need to go to hospital, we provide the services that they need. The increase in 70,000 GP attendances, which is projected for 2036, shows that we do have a real opportunity to grow our primary care."