Guernsey’s St John Emergency Ambulance Service is reminding islanders of the benefits of the Ambulance Subscription Scheme, which provides free ambulance responses, assessment and treatment by qualified clinicians for members for a single annual payment.

Membership of the 2023 scheme for Guernsey residents is £59 for an adult, £27 for a child and £43 for a senior citizen.

Click here for further details https://stjohn.gg/subscription-scheme/

The reminder about the subscription scheme comes as the service announces the ambulance charges for 2023, which will see people without a subscription paying from £420 for each ambulance attendance, plus an additional £81 for a paramedic treatment. (Full list of charges below).

Ambulances in Guernsey are not free, so anyone who isn’t a member of the subscription scheme and who doesn’t have adequate health insurance will be charged for an emergency ambulance call.

The Emergency Ambulance Service in Guernsey is provided by St John on behalf of the States of Guernsey, through a grant from the Committee for Health & Social Care.  The grant is a contribution towards the operating costs of the service, with the remaining costs being met in a variety of ways including the subscription scheme.

Chief Ambulance Officer Mark Mapp said: “St John has been unable to hold back applying the cost of living increases to our ambulance scheme for 2023. We have seen an unprecedented increase in medical inflation costs. The costs of running vehicles, equipment, medical consumables and insurances have all contributed to an overall increase in the costs of running a safe and effective service.”

St John Ambulance and Rescue board member Marc Farror added “We want to avoid large, step changes in pricing and we can only do this if we apply small annual increases that reflect surges in our operational running costs.  We recognise that even the smallest increase can affect household budgets, therefore we have for 2023 introduced the options to pay a subscription in four instalments over four quarters of the year. Joining the subscription scheme provides piece of mind, value for money and avoids a large bill in the unfortunate event of needing an ambulance.”

Renewal emails and letters for existing members are being sent out during November and anyone with an existing direct debit will automatically be renewed and therefore does not need to take any action – unless their details have changed.

Subscription membership covers up to 25 ambulance journeys, including the attendance of an ambulance, assessment and treatment by a qualified clinician at the scene and/or conveyance to hospital for further care if required. The 2023 subscription covers up to 10 non-emergency patient transfers booked in advance by a healthcare professional. It also covers Guernsey residents for the Flying Christine marine ambulance.

A separate Ambulance Subscription is available for residents of Herm at a cost of £86 and residents of Sark can join the scheme for an annual charge of £140 per individual. Visitors from outside the Bailiwick can join the Visitors subscription scheme which costs £59 per individual and covers a 3 month period.

Anyone who is not a member of the Ambulance Subscription Scheme and would like to join for 2023 can sign up online https://subscription.stjohn.gg/