How does it cost £100 to take someone to hospital?

They're probably taking into account all the phone calls they're making to check your address!! I dont know what the rate of pay for a hospital driver is but there will obviously be a load of pen-pushing admin and triplicate form filling to be done by someone with a fancy job-title like "patient transport facilitator". I thought there was a scheme whereby you could claim back transport costs. I'm sure I've seen posters up in our local hospital and, if the bus is difficult you'd think they'd include taxis?

Ambulances always charge alot. Its ridiculous. Luckily I have always had insurance cover mine when it was absolutely needed. My sister though didn't have insurance one time and the big was real high. Higher then that. I can't remember the exact amount but it was an hour drive from where the got her. Its just the way they earn extra income for the state or hospital or whatever.

You should have told her that whatever it costs to send the ambulance doesn't make any difference as to whether you can afford a bus or not. Your ambulance could cost £10million but it wouldn't suddenly make you be able to afford the £5+ it would take for you to get the bus to the hospital. I can't see how it could cost £100 for an ambulance. They have to pay for the upkeep of the ambulance plus one person to drive it. It might be that they have to pay a second person if the driver is being taken from somewhere else but ambulance people aren't paid that well. Even if they were earning £10 an hour and you counted all the costs of the use of the ambulance, for the sake of 1 hour (or less) that couldn't possibly cost the hospital more than £50 and even that would be at a push. I don't know if the woman on the 'phone was trying to make you feel guilty or something but some people just don't get that some people just can't afford things. It's like when people say you can pay something on a credit card or it's "only" going to be whatever price instead of more, it doesn't make any difference if you can't afford it.

i don't know how they make the analysis about the cost, but i can be sure the cost would be a lot more than you count. you just mention the visible cost or the one time of operating. to them they would include other cost involved in providing ambulance service. you are right. it's really expensive to take bus to the hospital here. according to the stastistics the driving cost is cheaper than taking public traffic tools. it's ridiculous. i can't understand the countries economy style. one week ago i was very sick. i felt uncomfortable. i thought i would die. i planed to call 911 for ambulance and doctor. at last i didn't do. i had some medicine and recover. later one of my friend told me the emergency call in the uk is 999. if i did call them i suppose they would have similar answer as you got.

Although our hospitals here are too expensive and all doctors seemed to value money more than patients the ambulance here is free. It might be calculated later on , i think. i don't like hospitals at all . My mom went there twice and passed away two years ago . When my son was just born they sent him to the operation table at once and later on found nothing happened . They took them just because he was born to be a big boy. Ridiculous indeed.

Here we also need to pay! Good health is the most important. I do not know you feel uncomfortale,but I would like to wish you speedy recovery.

Ambulance service is more complicated than that. I'm sure the hospital is charged $500 a shot for sending them out. It is manditory to have 2 drivers anytime an embulance is called. Then you have the wear and tear, insurance and upkeep that are all factored into the cost of the service. Most hospitals do not keep their own ambulances because of insurance issues. They are either done by volinteers or by professional services. I know transportation - just non emergency ambulance service here is $500 dollars. If it is emergency services, heart attack, stroke then professional services are called and they can charge you a minimum of $1,000 american dollars.