Monday 27 February 2017
HSC took over the direct delivery of the Emergency Department (ED) on the 1st September 2016 from PCCL Limited, who had been delivering the service under contract to HSC before this date.
Delivering the service directly means that HSC now directly employ and engage all the specialist medical staff required for the safe and high quality provision of the ED service which runs every minute of every day year round for the people of Guernsey.
ED has always been a chargeable service for users, as it is forms part of the Primary, rather than Secondary tier of healthcare on the island. When HSC took over the delivery of this service it maintained the charging system operated by PCCL. Since then we have taken time to gather information, review the charging processes and put in place a simpler, more transparent fee system which will launch on the 1st March.
Users of ED will, from March 1st 2017 pay a basic 'Attendance, Assessment & Advice Only' fee, which is tiered according to the time they attend. During normal weekday office hours (8am to 6pm) this will generally be £55 with costs higher for the evening and late night operational hours, as was the case before 1st September 2016 (reflecting the higher costs incurred to provide the service during these hours).
In addition to this basic fee, one of four defined tiers of 'Consultation Fee' will be added to the total service fee incurred by a user if specialist treatments/procedures are required. The categories reflect the different levels of resource that are required to effectively manage the healthcare issue presented by an ED user and might range from a simple bandage, to a very complex support care package, for example in respect of treating the often multiple clinical care issues relating to the effective treatment of a road traffic victim.
Rather than charge for each individual cost component making up the total fee of the treatment incurred within an episode of ED care (which was the charging system in use at ED before March 1st), the revised charging structure we are launching puts in place a set fee (determined by one of the four Consultation Fee categories), which covers the cost of all the treatment an ED user requires.
The Consultation Fee Categories are made up of detailed lists of all the services that are provided or arranged by ED for service users to provide effective treatment. Common examples of care provision to illustrate the four different categories listed can be found on our website: www.gov.gg/ED and in the ED reception. The website also includes worked examples of different ED treatment types to show the impact of the fee revisions we are launching (attached).
HSC are committed to the provision of an excellent, responsive and transparent ED service. These revisions to our fee structure reflect and support these principles.
