Private ambulance used to pick up a body

I've been to many incidents where private ambulances have been used to collect bodies, in fact NHS emergency ambulances are not normally used if someone has been confirmed as deceased at the scene. In a few cases I know this has happened and the line has been that the person was DOA at the hospital. That was my experience in any case, and this was also in the Humberside area, which includes NE Lincs within its 4 unitary authorities.
 
I think it is, but it’s Austerity driven of course.
The poor Ambo service is so stretched it can only deal with the living in need.
Those folks who have passed are conveyed in non emergency ambulances from the undertakers.
 
Alan White said:
I think it is, but it’s Austerity driven of course.
The poor Ambo service is so stretched it can only deal with the living in need.
Those folks who have passed are conveyed in non emergency ambulances from the undertakers.
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I'm not sure it is just austerity driven, I'd say it is better use of resources, surely a fully crewed emergency ambulance is better being available for a potentially life saving response than transporting a deceased person? Skilled medics are short in supply and should be used for their primary purpose in my opinion. Not all decisions are based on money / austerity or political reasons, there are some based on common sense :)
 
Very normal practice. If life is pronounced extinct at the scene then it will usually be left for the undertakers (private ambulance) if it happens in a public place it will invariably involve the police.
 
So where is the body taken? the public morgue? surely any sudden death requires an Inquest and postmortem.
Who pays for the transportation?
 
Terrywoodenpic said:
So where is the body taken? the public morgue? surely any sudden death requires an Inquest and postmortem.
Who pays for the transportation?
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I would imagine the hospital mortuary and the bill would go to the NHS.
 
Terrywoodenpic said:
So where is the body taken? the public morgue? surely any sudden death requires an Inquest and postmortem.
Who pays for the transportation?
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My understanding is:
It depends on many things, if someone drops dead in lets say a car park then the police would automatically be involved. They would make initial inquires and from there it would be decided how to proceed. Example one elderly gentleman collapse walking to ticket machine, initial inquires find he has known heart condition, likely to be released to mortuary (this may or may not be in a hospital) same scenario but he was seen arguing with someone before his collapse then likely will need a postmortem. so will go to facilities that can do it.

Same scenario but gentleman gets stabbed then coroner involved and he/she will decide where they are going and how they will be transported. be it coroners (private) ambulance or a contracted private ambulance.

Any of the above but the gentleman is still alive when the ambulance gets there and is still alive when he gets in the back of the ambulance then he will be transported by them. If he dies whilst on scene it is unlikely that the NHS ambulance will transport.
 
As for costs, again depends, if police are involved they pay (up to the point they release the body) . Other than that, any other means can be claimed against the estate. (Will often be included in undertakers fees.)
 
munch said:
As for costs, again depends, if police are involved they pay (up to the point they release the body) . Other than that, any other means can be claimed against the estate. (Will often be included in undertakers fees.)
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Including insurance for vehicle related incidents, I can't confirm this for fatalities, but certainly for injuries requiring an ambulance the injured person may well receive a bill from the ambulance service.
 
Alan White said:
I think it is, but it’s Austerity driven of course.
The poor Ambo service is so stretched it can only deal with the living in need.
Those folks who have passed are conveyed in non emergency ambulances from the undertakers.
Click to expand...

This.

A mate of mine makes a damn good living out of it since he semi retired.
 
rick448 said:
but certainly for injuries requiring an ambulance the injured person may well receive a bill from the ambulance service.
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Are you sure of that?
“THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR HEALTH”
“Has an obligation to provide ‘Free of Charge’, an Ambulance, to render assistance and to convey any
person, who has suffered from an accident at home, or has suffered an accident or sudden illness in a Public place, to a place of treatment.”
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...from: http://www.ambulanceservices.co.uk/NAPAS Training Files/AMBULANCE LAW.pdf
 
munch said:
Yes there can be a charge for conveying injured from an RTC (and some other injuries) to a hospital but is picked up as part of an insurance claim.
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Useful document that. So the person causing the injury is expected to pay and the assumption is that an insurer will pick up the tab...
  1. The fundamental principle behind the Injury Cost Recovery Scheme (ICR) is that those responsible for causing injury to others should meet the cost of NHS treatment. NHS costs are recovered only where personal injury compensation is paid, for example after a road traffic accident. Funds recovered come primarily from a third-party compensator/insurer.
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So in the case of a death wouldn't the same apply if the NHS did retrieve a body (for example to a hospital run mortuary)?
 
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AndrewFlannigan said:
So in the case of a death wouldn't the same apply if the NHS did retrieve a body (for example to a hospital run mortuary)?
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Whilst in principle they could, it is generally excepted that that won't pursue it.
 
Had a vaguely similar situation happen to me whilst at the Gower. Bloke fell off the cliff and died in my arms. First on scene was the coastguard helicopter with a doctor on board who pronounced the death, then said they couldn’t take the body even though there is no vehicular access onto the part we were on. The chopper left and we had to sit there with the body until enough police and the RNLI guys turned up. They then had to carry him all the way up the beach, up a very steep hugely long set of steps and into a waiting private ambulance.

Having thought about it after the event, I agreed with the decision. Imagine if your loved one got into trouble and the chopper was busy ferrying a dead guy to the hospital. Not exactly a good use of resources even if it was a huge effort to get the poor guy off the beach.
 
TCR4x4 said:
Had a vaguely similar situation happen to me whilst at the Gower. Bloke fell off the cliff and died in my arms. First on scene was the coastguard helicopter with a doctor on board who pronounced the death, then said they couldn’t take the body even though there is no vehicular access onto the part we were on. The chopper left and we had to sit there with the body until enough police and the RNLI guys turned up. They then had to carry him all the way up the beach, up a very steep hugely long set of steps and into a waiting private ambulance.

Having thought about it after the event, I agreed with the decision. Imagine if your loved one got into trouble and the chopper was busy ferrying a dead guy to the hospital. Not exactly a good use of resources even if it was a huge effort to get the poor guy off the beach.
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There is a lot of talk about the coastguard not removing deceased people, in the mountain rescue communities.
 
In Oxfordshire it has been private ambulances carrying the deceased for at least 20 years. The coroner and police have a rota of local funeral directors who do the work, taking the bodies back to their own storage facility or the morgue at the John Radcliffe hospital for post mortem as required.
 
More years ago than I care to think about I was involved in an accident involving a pedestrian, weeks later I was sent a bill for the ambulance via my insurance, wasn’t expensive but it did surprise me, especially after the police decided that the pedestrian was at fault, but hey ho, nobody died.
 
TCR4x4 said:
Had a vaguely similar situation happen to me whilst at the Gower. Bloke fell off the cliff and died in my arms. First on scene was the coastguard helicopter with a doctor on board who pronounced the death, then said they couldn’t take the body even though there is no vehicular access onto the part we were on. The chopper left and we had to sit there with the body until enough police and the RNLI guys turned up. They then had to carry him all the way up the beach, up a very steep hugely long set of steps and into a waiting private ambulance.

Having thought about it after the event, I agreed with the decision. Imagine if your loved one got into trouble and the chopper was busy ferrying a dead guy to the hospital. Not exactly a good use of resources even if it was a huge effort to get the poor guy off the beach.
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I agree about taking the deceased to a hospital, but I would have thought they could at least taken the body up to the cliff top.
 
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