Three minutes at Emergency Department cost me £55

I went early one morning after ringing up the hospital after a bad night to see if they were busy. Was told no one was in.

As I just walked through, yes no rush, only two people sitting down. Checked with reception to see was it possible to have a scan. She told the doctor.

When I went in and told him what was troubling me he asked me to open my mouth then said go to your own doctor. Three minutes, I was out.

I then got a bill, I am told, because I just entered the door, no matter if you never see anyone. The doctor also did not care and was dressed like a farmer, not a hospital doctor. My problem, I had a heart bypass that has gone wrong. He did not care.

I already knew my own doctor could not help but he did arrange a private scope and scan. This is the only way to get treatment that we all pay for every month, or wait for over a month to see the same people from Medical Specialist Group, and then they charge £250 just to see you before they put pen to paper, which I had to do. Still no results as the hospital in London messed my operation up by damaging my neck.

For my first visit to the hospital, I got a bill for opening the door: £55. I was told this is the new rules, even if you see no one.

What is the health care service coming to? But don’t blame the staff as I have found them great – not like the ones at London Bridge Hospital.

FRED KILPATRICK.

Emma Walton, communications manager for the Committee for Health & Social Care, responds:

Thank you for providing us opportunity to respond to the letter.

The Emergency Department of HSC provides a primary care service, for which, like visits to a GP, a fee is due and charged.

As clearly displayed in our ED reception, and online at www.gov.gg/ed, HSC have worked hard to be as clear and transparent as possible with its charging structure.

Visitors to ED receive a set fee, within a specified band, for the specialist care they receive from the dedicated ED team.

ED has always been a chargeable service, but since direct operation of the service by HSC, the charging system has been changed to provide all required care within a single charge rather than have each and every element of ED care separately invoiced, as was the system operated in ED by PCCL Ltd who ran the service prior to HSC.

In the absence of details regarding the author, we cannot comment or respond to this specific case. If the author wishes to get in touch with our ED team directly however, we will investigate and respond to the specific matters raised.

A key strand of the transformation of health and social care is access to primary health care. Improving accessibility should, in turn, help in prevention and early intervention.

As such, and as part of the development of a new operating model, HSC is, with partners across health and social care, investigating new approaches in this area with a view to bringing even greater benefits to service users.