BackAmbulance Victoria has agreed to Victorian Ombudsman Deborah Glass’s recommendation that it stop charging people $532 for ‘treatment without transport’ when an ambulance is called by a third party.
Tabling her Investigation of a complaint about Ambulance Victoria in the Victorian Parliament today, Ms Glass said Ambulance Victoria issued 17,758 invoices for treatment without transport in the 2017-18 financial year. Her office’s review of 120 of these cases found some ‘questionable practices’.
“There were people being invoiced for ambulances called by well-meaning friends or strangers where transport wasn’t required,” Ms Glass said. “Neither the Good Samaritan caller, nor the injured party, expect to receive a bill.
“There were cases where more than one person was attended by the same paramedics at a scene, with each of them being billed over $500 for treatment without transport.”
Ms Glass’s investigation was sparked by a complaint to her office from a Victorian man who received a $519* invoice for treatment without transport. The man had been injured in an altercation and an ambulance was called by a third party, without his knowledge. The man allowed paramedics to assess him and clean his wounds but refused further medical attention. He was not informed he would be invoiced $519 for the treatment.
While Ms Glass accepted that it was “the role of paramedics to respond to medical emergencies, not get involved in discussions about fees”, she said that “it is also not unreasonable for people to be informed that an assessment, including receiving unsolicited ‘reassurance’, might cost them over $500.”
She said it was incumbent upon Ambulance Victoria to exercise greater discretion when people dispute an invoice.
Click here to read the full release and report.
Source: Victorian Ombudsman, Australia
