Guernsey Press

Emergency Department set to introduce new pricing system

A NEW pricing system at the Emergency Department being introduced in March is 'more open, honest and transparent' than its predecessor, the Hospital Services director has said.

Published

Examples released by Hospital Services show the new system will lead to slight decreases and increases on current charges as the pricing structure is simplified.

Health & Social Care took over the direct delivery of the Emergency Department in September last year from PCCL Ltd, who had previously been delivering the service under contract to HSC.

While the previous pricing system was retained initially to ensure a 'smooth transition', the director of Hospital Services Jan Coleman said a full review of this system had taken place.

'The pricing system has been evaluated over the last four to six months, as we promised it would be when we went live,' she said. 'It will now be much more open, honest and transparent, and easier for the public to understand immediately what their invoice is for.'

The new system is built upon an 'Attendance, Assessment & Advice Only' fee, which is tiered according to the time a patient uses the Emergency Department.

This ranges from a £55 basic fee from Monday to Friday between 8am to 6pm, to £165 for any day of the week between 11pm to 8am.

Mrs Coleman said this charging difference reflected the 'higher costs incurred to provide the service during these hours' and was in line with previous pricing systems.

In addition to this basic fee, one of four defined tiers of 'Consultation Fee' will be applied to the total service fee, in the event that any specialist treatments or procedures are needed.

This ranged from a £45 add-on for 'minor category' treatments, such as minor dislocations and weekend blood tests to £340 for 'critical' procedures such as managing a cardiac arrest, major trauma and complex or open fractures.

A comprehensive list will be available online and in surgeries.

The department is also working with

VisitGuernsey to ensure all potential service users will have access to the charges.

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