UHG owed €1m in unpaid A&E fees
Cash-strapped University Hospital Galway is owed almost €1 million in unpaid Emergency Department fees.
The hospital has confirmed that when patients don’t pay bills it puts further ‘budgetary pressure’ on the hospital.
However, a former city mayor said people were ‘frustrated and angry’ with having to wait so long on trolleys in the ED, they were reluctant to pay the charges.
New figures released to the Galway City Tribune under Freedom of Information (FOI) reveal that some €956,275 worth of unpaid charges was owing to UHG at the beginning of this year.
That amount related to Emergency Department (formerly A&E) bills owed by 9,285 patients as of December 31, 2018.
HSE West Regional Health Forum member, Councillor Pádraig Conneely (FG) said people were reluctant to pay ED bills because the service wasn’t up to scratch.
“They can spend hours on end on a chair, or on trolley, in the corridors of the Emergency Department before they’re treated or admitted to the hospital,” said the former mayor.
“Everybody knows how busy it is up there, and they wait for two or three days and then they come home and they find a letter with a bill charging them €100 for spending hours on a trolley and they’re angry and they’re frustrated and would you blame them?”
He said the ED at University Hospital Galway was not fit for purpose, and was in dire need to investment.
“If the patient was admitted to the A&E and was seen to quickly and they were happy with the service, then people are very reasonable and would be happy to pay. But if they’ve spent hours sitting on a trolley, in an overcrowded Emergency Department, and they’re not happy about it, then they’re obviously going to be reluctant to pay for a service they’re not happy with,” he said.
Cllr Conneely added: “Worse again, what can happen is the patient has to go back a couple of days later after already going into the A&E and then they’re charged €200, for a service they should have obtained the first day. That’s not on.”
In a statement to this newspaper, the hospital said: “All ED debt is pursued as per the HSE national financial regulations which include referrals to debt collection agencies where required. Failure to collect ED debt promptly results in increased administration, financial and budgetary pressures on Galway University Hospital and the services it provides to patients in Galway and the western region.”
The hospital added that debt can be paid online, by phone or in person at the UHG.