Private hospital fees

Reading the letter about healthcare in Malta last January I recalled when a few weeks ago I was travelling from Tunisia to Ireland.

I met a lady residing in Ireland who started a conversation with me. After discovering I was Maltese and congratulating (?) me on such a wonderful island with so many beautiful churches, she, very sorrowfully, told me that on her visit to Malta, her sister who was accompanying her, took ill on a Monday and was taken to a private hospital. Unfortunately, the lady died on a Thursday.

The lady told me how wonderful and professional the staff of this hospital was and she even stayed there at night(s). "Just like a five star hotel," the lady said. Mind you, it was rather expensive at £6,000, but then the insurance company did foot the bill.

Another member of the Maltese community, who was very much praised, was the undertaker who took care of everything, even to transporting back the body of this unfortunate lady to Ireland. By this time I was afraid to ask how much this part of the bereavement cost the insurance company.

What I fail to understand is how can such a hefty bill be issued for a person, who was not operated on, stayed in hospital from Monday lunch time to Thursday, was only given blood transfusion, and passed away.

I do not want any answers as it is not my business, and I hope that this lady was truthful about the amount of money charged.

But I would like to warn anyone who uses private hospitals to ask for an estimate before admission and, of course, make sure one is fully insured.

I still cannot believe that this poor lady was charged £6,000.