Family members of a Jersey woman with severe stomach pains are calling on the government to fund treatment abroad.

Paula Matson has been waiting more than a year for an appointment at an NHS hospital in the UK.

Her family now hope she can be treated in Madeira, the island of her birth, but are unable to cover the costs.

Health Minister Karen Wilson said Jersey's government would not fund treatment in Madeira due to a lack of a reciprocal health agreement.

Mrs Matson first started experiencing stomach pains in September 2021 and has since undergone tests, scans and a gall bladder operation in Jersey.

She was referred in February 2022 to Southampton Hospital for further tests.

But her husband Steven says the family's wait for an appointment date has left them "so frustrated" that they have started searching for alternative treatment options.

Jersey's government funds treatment, travel and accommodation costs for patients referred to Guernsey or to NHS hospitals in the UK.

Mr Matson said he believed the island's authorities should also establish health arrangements with other countries.

The Matson family have started raising money to enable Mrs Matson to seek medical care in Madeira.

They used some of the donations to pay for an assessment at a private hospital in the country.

The family said they received results which were not found in Jersey and now hope to see Mrs Matson's GP with those results.

Mr Matson said the family cannot afford to pay treatment costs, which they believe could be thousands of pounds.

He said his wife had always weighed 87kg (13st 10lb) but now weighed 49kg (7st 10lb).

"She's getting more and more poorly and she'll reach a stage that it's not worth carrying on," he said.

Members of political party Reform Jersey have been supporting the Matson family in meetings with Jersey health officials aimed at securing funding for Mrs Maston's treatment in Madeira.

"It's preferable to use the UK system because it's the system we're closest to," said party leader, Deputy Sam Mézec.

"But everybody will know the extreme difficulties the NHS is going through at the moment, so it does make sense that we consider alternatives, especially with jurisdictions that we're close and friendly to anyway.

"And in the long run, it may actually save us money."

Deputy Wilson said local officials could not be assured of the quality or safety of services in Madeira, due to the lack of a reciprocal health agreement between the two islands.

But she confirmed that she would not rule out signing further health deals with other countries.

"We need to look at how and in what way there are problems for individuals and whether or not services elsewhere in other jurisdictions will actually meet their needs," she said.

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