Hospital patients let down by cancelled flights

David Thompson has a tumour on his right lung. He was travelling from Jersey to Southampton for a scan and biopsy to find out whether he has cancer when his flight was cancelled with less than one hour's notice.

His flight was one of 29 between Jersey and Southampton which have been cancelled or delayed this year by Channel Islands airline Blue Islands.

Mr Thompson, who had cancer seven-and-a-half years ago, said he managed to reschedule his medical appointments but he feared being left in limbo, adding: "Every day counts."

Blue Islands said it was "truly sorry" a small number of hospital flights had been disrupted in recent weeks and added 638 had gone as planned.

A spokesperson from the airline said patient hospital travel was one of the most important services it provided for Jersey.

The airline acknowledged the weekday morning flight from Jersey to Southampton was key to reaching hospital appointments.

It said since the beginning of this year it had two cancellations on this service – one for technical reasons and one for crew sickness.

Four more had been cancelled for weather reasons, the company said, and one when Jersey airport was closed due to a security alert.

The airline said: "Although we know it will come as no consolation to those whose journeys and hospital visits were impacted, such events are the exception rather than the norm."

Jersey Hospital regularly sends patients to University Hospital Southampton for treatments it cannot provide on-island.

When Mr Thompson's partner shared his experience with Blue Islands in a Facebook group, he was astonished by the number of people who replied with similar stories, dating back to 2018.

Mr Thompson said it felt like the airline did not care.

He said the cancellation cost him £140 in hotel and taxi costs, but what concerned him most was that he believed there were three other people on the flight due to have PET scans - for cancer diagnosis or monitoring.

He said: "One of them was a really older gentleman so, for him, it would have been a hell of a long day.

"When we were collecting the baggage from the baggage carousel, he shed a tear.

"That upset me a lot."

Mr Thompson is waiting for the results of his PET scan and biopsy to come through from Southampton Hospital.

Four days after Mr Thompson's flight to Southampton was cancelled, Annette Jackson, travelling to get treatment for a degenerative eye condition, had a similar experience.

She was booked on a 15:00 BST flight the afternoon before an appointment in Southampton when her flight was cancelled. She was put on a flight scheduled to leave three hours later, but it was delayed until 20:30 BST.

"I got to Southampton at 10 o'clock at night when I should have been there at 4 o'clock in the afternoon, very tired, very exhausted," she said.

Mrs Jackson said Blue Islands claimed the flight was cancelled because of technical issues.

"They'd shoved us all on to the later flight, which was full and the same coming back," she said.

Blue Islands said it did not cancel flights at the last minute due to passenger numbers.

It said this not only impacted customers but came with significant financial costs.

Mrs Jackson said it could be "very traumatic" to spend five hours in an airport because of her sight loss.

"Luckily, my husband was with me or else it would have been really bad because I can't see anything in bright light," she said.

Mrs Jackson said she was "dreading" her next flight to the UK for another medical appointment in eight weeks' time.

The Jersey Consumer Council (JCC) said situations like this were "the tip of the iceberg" when it came to the way flight cancellations could impact people.

Chairman Carl Walker said there had been growing problems in recent months, with increasing flight cancellations and postponements.

As a result, the JCC has launched a survey for passengers to share their experiences of flying with Blue Islands.

Mr Walker said UK and EU law meant passengers on UK and EU-based airlines could claim more than £200 compensation for cancellations, but equivalent law did not exist in the Channel Islands.

He said because Blue Islands was a Channel Island airline, anybody using it was unprotected from a consumer perspective.

Mr Walker said: "The government needs to change the law, it either needs to create its own compensation scheme for any airline based in the Channel Islands or it simply needs to try and extend the the UK Law to cover the Channel Islands.

"This really does need urgent attention."

In 2020, Jersey's government loaned Blue Islands £10m to be paid back over six years.

Part of this agreement was to help the airline keep providing islanders with "access to essential medical care".

Mr Thompson said the government should be doing something to make sure people could rely on the service, and to make sure the money the health service spent on patient flights to Southampton was not wasted.

"It isn't acceptable," he said.

He said: "It's not about me, it's about everybody who needs that treatment in Southampton, they deserve better than this... because in a lot of cases it can be the difference."

The BBC has approached the Government of Jersey for comment.

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