Novel Solution to ER Delays: Fine the Hospital

Have you ever transported a patient to an emergncy room, and had to wait while hospital personnel (usually understaffed) deal with a patient backlog before they can accept your patient? Our fellow EMTs and paramedics in the UK have stumbled upon a possible solution: fine the hospital for keeping amulances waiting longer than 20 minutes, and double the fine after 1 hour.

Hospitals in Gloucestershire county now face fines of £95 ($140) per ambulance kept waiting for than 20  minutes before offloading a patient. The fines will be levied and paid to NHS Gloucestershire and given to the Great Western Ambulance Service (GWAS), the ambulance service that serves the county. NHS stands for National Health Services, a publically funded health care system in the UK.

There are estimates that total fines in Gloucestershire county may be as high as £860,000 ($1.26 million) per year if the hospitals do not address the problem.

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