to think they should charge for ways ambulance time?

[Softlysoftly]

Or would it prevent genuinely in need people from calling them?

At OOH drs last night (dd2 is v poorly just discharged on tuesday). And the woman in the queue in front was bitching and whining that the ambulance she called on 999 hasn't turned up and after 50 minutes they called and said they were over busy and they would pay for her taxi instead .

This wasn't good enough so she'd walked in instead but was pissed off she had to a) wait b) the receptionist had the gall to ask if she'd canceled the ambo (she hadnt apparently why fucking should she when they'd mucked her about) .

She was in and out the drs in a flash, seriously nothing wrong with her.

I think she should have been charged for the ambulance she wasted aibu?

[maddening]

Yes bags that would be misuse of the ambulance service.

[Szeli]

I tore a bunch of ligaments in my ankle and broke my foot falling over when I was 16; over half an hour away from the nearest hospital.
Rang NHS direct for advice as I thought going to a and e would be time wasting - got told I had to go to hospital and must get in a taxi. Cost me a whole days wages to pay for it! Then I had to call my mum at 3am to let her know what had happened to see if she could meet me with some money if I got a taxi home.

I've refused ambulances a couple of times tho. Don't see the point if there's an alternative option; I did always offer to be the person to accompany the drunk or overdosing teens to hospital as a teenager as we used to go out in a small town where the school was and I lived in the city where the hospital was - got me nearer to home and I was usually the most sober/sensible person about anyways :) x

[pinkyredrose]

bugsocute are you still hanging around talking total crap? Ah bless ya, don't worry school starts again on Monday.

[ApocalypseCheeseToastie]

Yanbu.

A complete and utter dickhead I know phoned an ambulance because she cut her babies finger when cutting his nails.....she was so distraught she was posting photos of the sorry saga onto facebook.

Only problem I have with charging is some people may need an ambulance but be put off.

[Pobblewhohasnotoes]

MsBella Fri 12-Apr-13 14:57:36
With my first 2 dcs I rang my midwife who called an ambulance both times- nobody said I was wasting time and it was a normal labour, I could walk, wasn't dying etc

Being in normal labour is an inappropriate use of an ambulance. At antenatal classes the midwife told us to work out our arrangements to get to hospital i.e taxi or car as being in labour was not an emergency.

[pinkyredrose]

MsBella has already shown herself to be an overentitled inconsiderate arse hence her posts on the 'children in restaurants' thread about how she allows her DC to 'explore' when they go out to eat.

[Pobblewhohasnotoes]

I know, I shouldn't have responded really! Some people really do think the world revolves around them and their children.

[pinkyredrose]

Aye!

[CouthySaysEatChoccyEggs]

I am one of those 'Don't want to he a bother' people. I deal with most things myself, and often catch a bus to A&E as I'm only 5 mins away - during the day, it's actually quicker to catch the bus than to wait for an ambulance.

However, there gave been a few occasions where ambulances have been called - for DS2's asthma, for DS3's allergies, when I had double pneumonia...

[whomovedmychocolate]

I think the solution is to move the problem to A&E. If the rules were rewritten to say 'if you have been triaged and your problem is very minor, could be dealt with elsewhere, or did not require ambulance transportation, we promise to deal with you at some point within the next eight hours and for the first seven of which you can sit in a very dull white room.

I drove my MiL to A&E on Thursday after she had a respiratory arrest. In retrospect I should have called an ambulance but it probably WAS quicker because there was a football match on locally and I knew the ambulance service would been ages.

We were triaged very quickly and because she was actually okay (she's just REALLY old and doesn't recover well from coughing fits). So they left us in the waiting room for an hour to keep her onsite but not really requiring close monitoring (other than obviously me sitting there noticing if she fell of her perch).

While we were there a stroppy bitch woman came up to the reception desk f-ing and blinding about how she'd come in an ambulance for her stubbed badly injured toe and now had been sat in the waiting room for half an hour and why wasn't she getting priority treatment.

Receptionist was very polite. Much politer than I'd be in pointing out that method of transport does not influence treatment times. But ye gods, some people do seem to think an ambulance takes them to the front of the queue.