Families urged to consider ambulance subscription

Guernsey's Ambulance and Rescue Service is encouraging parents and carers to "have a conversation" about taking out a subscription to its service.

People in the bailiwick have to pay for an ambulance if they do not have a valid subscription or medical insurance.

While a single emergency ambulance call-out costs £610, a child's ambulance subscription in 2027 is due to cost £35 a year, with an adult subscription set at £75 - an increase from the current rate of £71.

Chief ambulance officer John Atkins said: "We all hope our children will stay safe and well, but accidents and illness are part of life, and they don't always happen when we expect them to. "

The service said it attended about 10,000 call-outs a year, while subscriptions also covered non-emergency patient transfers and marine ambulance responses.

A child's ambulance subscription costs the equivalent of £2.92 a month, the service added, or 9p a day, service bosses said.

Atkins added: "Most parents don't start the day expecting their child to need an ambulance.

"It might be a fall in the playground, an accident on a bike or something more serious.

"If you need to call 999, the last thing you want is to be worrying about an unexpected bill on top of everything else."

He said it was "far better" to have a conversation about taking out a subscription ahead of time rather than having to discuss it "after the fact".

"We simply want families to understand the cost of an ambulance in Guernsey and make an informed decision about protecting themselves financially," he said.

A senior citizens subscription will cost £53 in 2027.

People were asked to purchase subscriptions online or at post offices and not visit the service's headquarters in Rohais.

Follow BBC Guernsey on X, Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to channel.islands@bbc.co.uk.