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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to be shocked about getting a bill from A&E in the NHS?!

137 replies

threeleftfeet · 30/05/2012 16:09

I took my friend to A&E a few weeks ago as she suffered an rare and extreme reaction to some antibiotics she was on.

(She got seen quicker than anyone I've ever seen in A&E. Apparently passing out on the front desk gets you seen quickly! Seriously though, she was not at all well.)

They kept her in for a night, did all sorts of tests, diagnosed her with a rare reaction to the antibiotics, gave her new antibiotics to replace the ones she'd been on, and sent her on her way in the morning.

Now, three weeks later she's received a bill in the post which demands payment for the medicine at the standard NHS prescription rate. It demands payments within 14 days, with the threat that they'll send it to a debt collection agency and add on a fiver if not received by then Shock

There was no mention of payment in the hospital. My friend is exempt from charges anyway, which they would have known if they'd but asked.

What happened to free on the point of delivery? I know we pay for prescription charges, but she was given the drugs in the hospital, this is a new one on me.

AIBU to be Shock at this?

OP posts:
PinkPepper · 30/05/2012 16:11

Well it was free at the point of delivery. I've never heard of this though. Might be worth ringing PALS the number should be on the trusts website

BettySwollocksandaCrustyRack · 30/05/2012 16:11

Actually YABU!

I had an operation a couple of years ago and when I left they gave me some painkillers....and an invoice.

Think its common practice - why should she not pay (if she wasnt exempt) just because she was given them in hospital - she still had to take them home with her.

Sirzy · 30/05/2012 16:11

I know you have to pay for prescriptions from the hospital pharmacy, I guess your hospital has a policy of charging for meds sent up from pharmacy.

Sirzy · 30/05/2012 16:12

And thinking about it, if they didn't charge I bet they would be inundated with cheapskates people going to a and e rather than the gp so they got free medicine

Lougle · 30/05/2012 16:12

They gave her new antibiotics. These are perceives for use as an outpatient, so attract the prescription charge.

If she had drugs at the hospital which weren't continued at home, they would have been free of charge.

twolittlemonkeys · 30/05/2012 16:13

When I've been given drugs to take home with me from hospital, I've had to pay the prescription charge. The ones they administer whilst you're there are free. I'm surprised they gave them to her rather than sending her to the hospital pharmacy, unless she was incapable?

Original poster
threeleftfeet · 30/05/2012 16:14

But this is new, surely? I've never heard of this before.

I've just checked with a nurse friend of mine. She was shocked too, she's never heard of it either.

OP posts:
twolittlemonkeys · 30/05/2012 16:14

so yes YABU I'm afraid

fruitysummer · 30/05/2012 16:14

YANBU

However i'm not sure how it works with regards to some drugs.

I had hospital treatment last year, some of the drugs I had to pay for some I didn't. I was in all honesty pissed off about it, especially as everyone else around me didn't have to pay. I did however get told about it as I had to collect them myself from the pharmacy.

Original poster
threeleftfeet · 30/05/2012 16:15

I've been given a prescription in hospital before, which I've had to pay for. But never if the actual drugs were given.

OP posts:
agedknees · 30/05/2012 16:16

YABU. All your friend has to do is phone the pharmacy with the number on her exemption certificate.

Our local hospital has a private pharmacy (Lloyds). Maybe its the same as the hospital your friend is in.

yorkshire84 · 30/05/2012 16:16

I think it is common practice to charge. However, it should have been made clear that she would be invoiced. Than she could have claimed exemption.

BettySwollocksandaCrustyRack · 30/05/2012 16:16

Why would it be new?? If she had prescription drugs to take home and use then obv she would pay a prescription charge.....she wouldnt pay for the drugs they used in the hospital but def for the ones she is taking to use at home.

Like Sirzy said, everyone would go to a and e if they werer going to get free prescriptions and then the nhs would be even more fucked than it is now.

Sirzy · 30/05/2012 16:17

So why do you see it as different between being given a bottle of antibiotics in a and e to take home and being given a script in a and e for the same medicine?

Either way it's the same medicine and the same cost to the hospital

Original poster
threeleftfeet · 30/05/2012 16:17

The request for payment in 14 days backed up with the threat of debt collectors - with no advance warning that a bill would be sent - is a bit much, don't you think?

OP posts:
TheDinnerWitch · 30/05/2012 16:20

Wow, YANBU, I have never ever heard of this Confused. I've had to go to A&E before and been given some anti-biotics to take home and have never been charged! Makes me want to move to Scotland....

Original poster
threeleftfeet · 30/05/2012 16:20

I've never heard of the NHS sending bills in the post before, have you?

It is different from issuing a prescription because it has threat attached to it. Also it was not explained that it would cost money.

If someone has sat in A&E all night to get antibiotics for free for no good reason then yes they should be sent a bill. But that's not the same as my friend who was very ill indeed.

OP posts:
Lougle · 30/05/2012 16:20

Did she only take the drug in the hospital, or was she given some to take home?

If the former, she shouldn't have been charged. If the latter, she was prescribed a medicine so pays (or not) just as if it was the GP.

BettySwollocksandaCrustyRack · 30/05/2012 16:20

Not really, after all if you go to Mr Chemist you have to pay there and then.

chrisrobin · 30/05/2012 16:20

I think this is normal as the antibiotics would be for outpatient use. When DH was admitted because of his asthma they charged him for the new inhaler they sent him home with but not for the nebuliser drugs they stabilised his breathing with while he was there.

skrullandcrossbones · 30/05/2012 16:22

I got a bill a couple of weeks after DC3's birth, with a charge for the private room I spent a few hours in.

Fair enough, I didn't mind paying. But it did feel very strange getting a bill. Especially as no-one had mentioned that there was a charge or that a bill would be sent - perhaps they could say something about that at the time!

MissFaversham · 30/05/2012 16:23

If she's "exempt" then surely any prescription would be free? it sounds like an error on their part.

Floggingmolly · 30/05/2012 16:24

It's not a new thing, no. And the thing about debt collectors is probably just an attempt to make peope take the bill seriously, the NHS lose millions every year due to unpaid bills.

anniemcphee · 30/05/2012 16:25

YABU - DH has been to A and E a few times over the years and had to pay for any prescriptions he has been given - from eye drops to antibiotics.
I have also had to pay for any prescriptions from clinic appointments.
The care you recieve is free at the point of service, but the medicines were taken away from the hospital so you pay for those.

I was once given codiene in A&E - but as it was a one off dose in the department it was free. Had I had any to take home I would have had to pay.

agedknees · 30/05/2012 16:25

skull - did you ask for a private room or is that where they just put you? If it was the latter, I would have contested that bill.