Wollongong Hospital patients are being forced to pay a daily fee of $10 for free-to-air TV – and more than $50 a week for the simple pleasure of tuning in.
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The same fees are charged at other public hospitals across the Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District (ISLHD), and they’re similar to those paid by patients at public hospitals state and nationwide.
However there’s an increasing backlash against the charges, with patients, their families and advocates claiming free-to-air TV should be, well, free.
“I think that it’s a big impost on patients to be asked to foot the bill for technology that’s pretty ordinary,” Patient Advocate Australia founder Dorothy Kamaker said.
“At most public hospitals there’s no headphones, the patient is paying for a tiny screen suspended from the ceiling over their bed. It’s not sophisticated technology, it’s not cable TV.
“A lot of patients are anxious, many are isolated, they’re bored. To have to pay for free-to-air TV is just unfair.”
Meantime an online petition from an Adelaide woman calling for public patients to have free access to TV across the nation has fast gained momentum – racking up more than 30,000 signatures in the past week.
The petition calls on Telstra – which provides hospitals in that state with services – to offer free-to-air TV for free.
“People are sick, lonely and in pain, with nothing to look at but other patients and four walls,” Lyndsay Iwanicki, who started the petition, wrote.
“Patients with no visitors have nothing to look forward to which doesn’t do anything to help them get better quickly.”
In NSW, Hills Health Solutions provides packages for many public hospitals – including those at Bulli, Wollongong, Shellharbour and Shoalhaven hospitals.
In this region patients can pay by the day ($10 or $9 concession) or for a certain amount of days depending on their stay. Two days for instance is $19 ($17 concession); five days is $43 ($47 concession).
According to a patient guide on Wollongong Hospital’s website, there’s no Medicare refund on TV costs.
“You are not permitted to bring your own TV into the hospital due to space limitations and electrical safety,” the guide states.
ISLHD Director Corporate Services and Chief Information Officer, Vicki Fleming, said agreements around access to entertainment in hospitals, like television, were undertaken between the local health districts and service providers. Policies were implemented locally based on each district’s specific requirements.
“In the ISLHD this service is managed by an external provider, which also provides entertainment services at a number of hospitals across NSW,” she said.
“Patients at hospitals in ISLHD are able to access television upon admission by phoning through and requesting the service, which is charged to their credit card.
“If patients are identified as Department of Veteran Affairs their costs are covered by a special fund set up by the RSL. If a patient opts to use their private health insurance while in our hospitals, the cost of the service is also covered.”
Ms Fleming said ISLHD was currently looking into other options including a Wifi solution where patients would be able to bring in their own device.
