Got €100 bill after being taken away in ambulance

Wuggectumondo

Hi there,

A while ago I was in an accident and got taken away in an ambulance. I thought that the casualty fees were waived if you got taken there in an ambulance, am I wrong?

I'm on Social Welfare but don't have a Medical Card

Wuggectumondo

Wuggectumondo wrote: »

Hi there,

A while ago I was in an accident and got taken away in an ambulance. I thought that the casualty fees were waived if you got taken there in an ambulance, am I wrong?

I'm on Social Welfare but don't have a Medical Card

Contact the hospital who issued the bill. Or search this forum as it was discussed recently.

Hooch

Wuggectumondo wrote: »

Hi there,

A while ago I was in an accident and got taken away in an ambulance. I thought that the casualty fees were waived if you got taken there in an ambulance, am I wrong?

I'm on Social Welfare but don't have a Medical Card

As far as im aware thats a myth. People are under that impression and hense why the call ambulances at all hours for "accidents" that happened a week ago.

A&E charge €100 if you do not have a letter of referal from Doctor.

Paulzx

A and E charge is 100euro. Only exceptions are if you have been referred by your gp or are a medical card holder.
Ambulance is irrelevant

ivabiggon

except it seems in JCM as discussed recently

DrIndy

nice guy always wrote: »

As far as im aware thats a myth. People are under that impression and hense why the call ambulances at all hours for "accidents" that happened a week ago.

A&E charge €100 if you do not have a letter of referal from Doctor.

There are so many myths about ambulances.

Another one is that we see people on a medical need basis - not whether you arrived by ambulance or not.

You will never be seen ahead of everyone else just because you arrived by ambulance.

Wuggectumondo

My mum had to go to casualty a few years ago but walked over since we live near the hospital. The woman in the hospital said that if she had rang an ambulance, she wouldn't have had to pay the €100.

I was in a road accident by the way, it wasn't something that happened the week before and there is no way I could have went to a doctor in that state (lying on the road covered in blood at 8pm not able to move)

2 stroke

DrIndy wrote: »

we see people on a medical need basis - not whether you arrived by ambulance or not.

Not my experience in jcm.

coolmoose

JCM charge has nothing to do with the ambulance service, it is an optional fee open to the health boards at the time. It does not come from the ambulance servcie, nor does it end up going back to the ambulance service.

€100 charge still applies, you visited A&E, the reason why is irrelevant. Medical card or GP letter are pretty much the only exceptions.

coolmoose

2 stroke wrote: »

Not my experience in jcm.

Are you a doctor? Can you decide who needs to be seen on a medical basis?

Bang Bang

As discussed here before, JCM have invoiced people for both A&E AND Ambulance charges.
It clearly stated on the invoice that the additional charge was for the ambulance!!
I have seen one of these invoices.
There is no charge for an ambulance, so where does the "ambulance charge" go??

2 stroke

coolmoose wrote: »

Are you a doctor? Can you decide who needs to be seen on a medical basis?

I am a trained first aider. I had a compound fracture. Two ambulance patients that arraived after me were discharged after recieving a few stitches, I still had not been seen.

maglite

Ok so from the first aid manual,

Breathing
Bleeing
Unconciousnes
Fractures
Shock

In that order the bleeding gets seen first, also I would assue the othro doc would not have been doing the stiches so they would have been done by someone who was not dealing with bones that night. Also as you were transorted by ambulance it was assesed, treated"" and you would have had been considered for pain relief, now that that is done dont worry,, Last time i was admitted to hosp i had to wait almost a week for a # to be delt with.

deadwood

maglite wrote: »

Last time i was admitted to hosp i had to wait almost a week for a # to be delt with.

That's nothing. I once had a @ stuck in my $ and it took them 4 months to figure out how to get it out.

maglite

deadwood wrote: »

That's nothing. I once had a stuck in my @$$ and it took them 4 months to figure out how to get it out.

A what sorry?

DubMedic

deadwood wrote: »

That's nothing. I once had a @ stuck in my $ and it took them 4 months to figure out how to get it out.

Yeah, you were obviously the brighter one in that situation then.

.

Zambia

You should be actually charged for the ambulance here that trip would have cost you about €350 just for the ambulance.

And if they decided you needed air lifting €3500 +

I dont like the idea of paying for an ambulance but when a small insurance of $30 covers you for a year. Its not that bad its included in your private medical cover.

Granted you are concerned over the A&E fee but in reality at some piont a happy medium between state funding and personnal responsibilty has to be met.

If you think back to the accident and think of all the resources you took up €100 is not that much its about a nights drinking.

Wuggectumondo

I understand that €100 is certainly not loads for all the ambulance crew and casualty did for me, I'm just wondering if I have to pay it since the casualty told my Mum that if she had rang an ambulance when she walked to a casualty, she wouldn't have had to pay the fee

Wuggectumondo

Zambia232 wrote: »

€100 is not that much its about a nights drinking.

Ha I'm unemployed, I don't spend €100 in a night!

2 stroke

No. maglite. I was not transported by ambulance, was not assesed and did not recieve pain relief. Also what is a compound fracture but a bleeding fracture.
I eventually asked for my money back and went to another hospital where I was treated promptly and professionally.

Zambia

Wuggectumondo wrote: »

I understand that €100 is certainly not loads for all the ambulance crew and casualty did for me, I'm just wondering if I have to pay it since the casualty told my Mum that if she had rang an ambulance when she walked to a casualty, she wouldn't have had to pay the fee

There is a logic to that being that if you can walk to an A&E maybe you should go to a doctor instead as its not really an emergency. However I am sure this would just have people abusing the ambulance service

PCPhoto

Zambia232 wrote: »

There is a logic to that being that if you can walk to an A&E maybe you should go to a doctor instead as its not really an emergency. However I am sure this would just have people abusing the ambulance service

people have walked into A&E with serious injuries (axe stuck in head.... attempted murder ...long story)

Shield

I think he was referring to 'in general'. This would be considered exceptional, don't you think?

coolmoose

2 stroke wrote: »

I am a trained first aider. I had a compound fracture. Two ambulance patients that arraived after me were discharged after recieving a few stitches, I still had not been seen.

oh right, you're a trained first aider, so you can decide in-hospital who is of a greater medical priority? and you're obviously trained in the Manchester Triage System or similar so?

you would have been seen when you needed to be seen as decided by trained nurses and doctors, fractures are not a life threat.

a compund fracture is one where the bone is sticking through the skin.

dredre

Zambia232 wrote: »

There is a logic to that being that if you can walk to an A&E maybe you should go to a doctor instead as its not really an emergency. However I am sure this would just have people abusing the ambulance service

I think that's a bit unfair. Most people who attend an Emergency Department manage to walk in. This includes people with: heart attacks, strokes, meningitis, broken bones, appendicitis, collapsed lungs, dislocated shoulders, concussion. I think we'd all agree that these are emergencies.

For what it's worth, I saw all of these on my last shift. Most did not arrive by ambulance. They were all seen in order of clinical need not arrival time or mode.

I appreciate that to the outsider it may seem that there are confusing decisions being made about who is seen next. The reality is that triage focuses not just on what is wrong with you but what could be wrong with you. Therefore chest pain gets a higher priority than a fracture since chest pain could be due to a heart attack which is a time-critical emergency. However, a compound fracture is less so.

Ideally, everyone would be treated as they arrive, but as patients do not arrive nicely spaced out (well some do, but spaced out in a different way!), decisions have to be made about who is seen next. This is frustrating if it is not you, but by expecting to be seen next, you are taking resources away from someone else and that decision can only be made by someone with appropriate training.

Furthermore, many departments operate 'streamed' care whereby 'minor' injuries are seen separately to major illnesses. This means that the sore ankle is not kept waiting hours until all the heart attacks and strokes are dealt with. However, because separate staff and clinical areas are used, it may appear that minor injuries are given a greater priority. Because of the staff and clinical space involved, it is not always possible for them to see more serious patients in their area. Also if they did do this, it would affect the management of other patients also.

So in summary, I'll offer 2 possible explanations for why apparently more minor injuries were seen before you:

1. They were triaged as something potentially more serious. e.g. a head injury with a laceration which required stitches might be more serious than a similar laceration on the arm due to the potential for intracranial injury. Following a complete assessment, it may have been apparent that this was not an issue and hence the patient was sutured and discharged.

2. The ED operated a streaming system and your injury was not appropriate for the 'minor' injury section and thus you had to wait you turn in the majors section.

There are other explanations too. It happens that people with other problems such as a recent bereavement or imminent exam need emergency care too. For compassionate reasons, ED staff will often try to expedite the care of these patients) often in their own time.

A final note; one of the principal reasons for using an ambulance is the need to lie down. People who's illness or injury restricts them to a lying position clearly cannot be sent out to the waiting room. Therefore they are accommodated on a trolley in the emergency department. It does not necessarily follow that they are being seen immediately. They wait their turn according to clinical need like everyone else, but it may appear that they are being seen quicker.

People's perceptions of what is an 'emergency' differ and it is not possible to give blanket guidance on what is or is not appropriate for an ED. We try to accommodate everyone that presents.

Zambia

PSNI said it best I meant it was an possible general underlying logic to a walk in charge. I would agree that some cases that attend A&E under their own steam are just as serious as those in an ambulance.

DrIndy

true - I had a HIV+ lady with a pneumonia, walked in by her boyfriend that I sent to ICU a few hours later rotten as despite the most aggresive treatment.

Victor

Wuggectumondo wrote: »

I understand that €100 is certainly not loads for all the ambulance crew and casualty did for me, I'm just wondering if I have to pay it

I understnad you do have to pay it.

since the casualty told my Mum that if she had rang an ambulance when she walked to a casualty, she wouldn't have had to pay the fee

This would appear to be mistaken.

Wuggectumondo

Yes you have to pay it!

Unless you have a medical card or paid your GP and he sends you over with a letter.

So if you're in a road accident, try and make it to your GP first!!

Draupnir

Wuggectumondo wrote: »

Yes you have to pay it!

Unless you have a medical card or paid your GP and he sends you over with a letter.

So if you're in a road accident, try and make it to your GP first!!

You have to pay the GP anyway though?

What is it with people trying to get things for free? These people cure you, they heal you, they make you physically able to live when that might not be guaranteed and yet you moan about having to pay for the service? This beggars belief.

Shield

Maybe some people mightn't have it... recession and all that...

Draupnir

In my experience, the A&E departments are quite flexible in taking payment on these things and will give you plenty of time if you can't pay immediately.

They don't send in the heavies to break your thumbs straight away, probably because that would be counter productive.

Wuggectumondo

Draupnir wrote: »

What is it with people trying to get things for free? These people cure you, they heal you, they make you physically able to live when that might not be guaranteed and yet you moan about having to pay for the service? This beggars belief.

If you actually read the thread, I wasn't saying that I SHOULD get stuff for free, I just had a misunderstanding that I was billed by a mistake

Wuggectumondo

Draupnir wrote: »

In my experience, the A&E departments are quite flexible in taking payment on these things and will give you plenty of time if you can't pay immediately.

Yeah they really are fair. They give you about 6 weeks and you can pay in installments

Draupnir

Wuggectumondo wrote: »

Yeah they really are fair. They give you about 6 weeks and you can pay in installments

Sorry about the other post, didn't mean to be so harsh!

Wuggectumondo

Draupnir wrote: »

Sorry about the other post, didn't mean to be so harsh!

No probs, but any more posts like that and you'll be in the ambulance! :pac: