A Dublin woman was charged €100 despite not seeing a doctor in Tallaght University Hospital
Jess Spear went to the emergency department on Sunday morning, January 13 after being told by her doctor on Friday, January 11 to go there if her ear infection got any worse.
She waited six hours before deciding to leave without having seen a doctor.
Jess told Dublin Live: “I went to my GP last Friday because I had an infection in my ear.
“She gave me antibiotics and said if it gets worse, if I get a fever or if it spreads, I need to go to A&E.
“Over the next day it wasn’t getting better and that evening I had shooting pains around my neck and lymph nodes, so it was getting worse.
Jess then decided to go to Tallaght University Hospital where she checked in and was initially seen by a nurse.
“There’s a nurse that sees you when you go in and she asked me if I needed pain medication, but I took paracetamol myself so I didn’t need any and I had my antibiotics too."
Jess waited to be seen by a doctor for six hours before deciding to go home.
“When you’re sitting there you feel as if you’re getting sicker, it’s really uncomfortable.," explained Jess.
Jess was shocked to then receive an invoice in the post from the hospital for €100.
“As soon as you check in, do you know that it will cost €100? That you’re going to be charged just for checking in? I maybe would’ve thought twice, it’s ridiculous to be charging people," said Jess.
She is now on the last day of her antibiotics, the infection has not cleared and she is worried that she will have to go back to her GP or return to the emergency department.
A spokeswoman from Tallaght University Hospital told Dublin Live: “We are unable to comment on individual cases. The Emergency Department in TUH is very busy. The month of January saw an additional 300 people attend the ED when compared to December.
"In the last week alone 1,091 patients attended the ED, an increase of over 250 patients when compared with the same week in 2021. The Hospital would again like to advise anyone with non-urgent medical problems to seek the advice of their GP or local pharmacy before presenting to the ED.
"Due to the need to see patient in order of clinical urgency, patients with non-urgent conditions may be waiting longer times to see medical staff.
"We regret any delay a patient experiences whilst waiting in the ED, patients are prioritised according to clinical need. The €100 charged for attending the Emergency Department is a statutory charge is set by the state."
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