Casualty patients leave UHG with half a million euro bill

Around five thousand patients owe more than half a million Euros between them in unpaid fees for using the Emergency Department at Galway’s main public hospital, documents reveal.

It has also been confirmed by the Health Service Executive West (HSE) that it uses debt collectors to recoup A&E charges from patients who are slow to cough up the cash.

Figures released to the Connacht Tribune under the Freedom of Information Act (FOI) reveal that a total of €534,959 is owed to University Hospital Galway (UHG) for unpaid Emergency Department fees.

Tony Canavan, chief operating officer, Galway and Roscommon University Hospitals Group, confirmed in his response to the FOI that the outstanding amount of money related to 4,923 individual records.

He said the €534,959 amount owed comprised a total of 5,375 invoices suggesting some patients have not paid for multiple visits to the Emergency Department.

In a statement responding to the figures, the HSE confirmed it was hiring debt collectors to pursue the patients.

“The Emergency Department payment is requested on arrival. An invoice is generated seven days after discharge and a number of reminders are sent if payment is not received.

 If there is no payment after twelve weeks, the request for payment is handed over to a debt collecting agency,” it said.

The charge for patients attending the Emergency Department of UHG, as of January 2009, is €100.

See full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune.