– You will be completely shocked. That’s what the unfortunate salmon fisherman, Stig Sletner, says. He was sent by ambulance to hospital after falling on one of the steps on the outdoor toilet at the cabin by the salmon river Namsen in Overhalla. But if you are injured on holiday in Norway, you only get covered transport from Patient Travel back to the place you were. – Today’s rules are not good enough, he believes. I was sad – I was completely put out, and thought it was a misunderstanding, says Stig Sletner. He admits that he was both sad and angry. The operation after the fracture in the femur had gone well, but he was in great pain. Bus or train back to the home in Trondheim was not relevant. Also this year, the friends were fishing for salmon in Namsen. There was nothing for Stig this year. In the picture from left Tor Knudsen, Stig Sletner, Arnulf Rø and Dag Erik Helland. Photo: Private He is very surprised that he did not get a taxi from Patient Travel the 19 miles from the hospital in Namsos to his home in Trondheim. On the other hand, it was perfectly fine if he traveled the opposite way north back the barely three miles to the cabin in Overhalla. He heard this both during the doctor’s visit at the hospital and when he himself called Patient Travel. It was slippery after rain and the salmon fisherman slipped on the top step. It was back here that Stig Sletner could get a ride. Photo: Anne Ovidie Hagerup – I realized that there was no point in making noise. He estimates that the entire taxi ride from Namsos to Trondheim would cost 5000 kroner. – I do not think this is so much, it is really small money. Instead, he was covered NOK 2,000 by his insurance company. Good treatment at the hospital, the 60th anniversary was marked here. Here with salmon friend Arnulf Rø. It did not go as well when he went home. Can not be driven to the outdoor toilet – Now people are encouraged to holiday in Norway. If something happens, then we must at least be allowed to come home after a hospital stay. You can not be driven to an outdoor toilet, says Anne Ovidie Hagerup at Grande Gaard in Overhalla, which receives salmon fishermen. This is where Stig Sletner was to fish for salmon, as he has done for over 20 years. – There are many Norwegians who holiday in Norway. Then it can not be that they do not get home if something happens. Then it becomes very unsafe, she thinks. When patient travel is covered This is necessary for you to be covered for the patient journey: Travel expenses are covered from the place of stay to the place of treatment. After the health care has been provided, the travel expenses from the place of treatment to the place of stay are covered. The journey is longer than ten kilometers each way. You can be reimbursed for travel expenses shorter than ten kilometers, if your doctor documents that it was necessary to use a private car or taxi for health reasons. The journey goes over several tariff zones for public transport. If the journey is only within one fare zone, it will as a general rule not be covered through the patient travel scheme. This is independent of means of transport. The exception to this rule is if your doctor documents that it was necessary to use a private car or taxi for health reasons. Even if you do not reach the treatment by using public transport, you can have expenses covered within one tariff zone. Remember to explain this when applying. Follows rules When news calls the emergency telephone at Patient Travel, we get the same answer as Stig Sletner received. – The regulations are online. If a patient is injured in a region other than his own, then it is shipping back to the scene of the injury that is covered. Head of department Tor Egil Skrødal at Patient Travel in Health Nord-Trøndelag does not want to comment on this particular case due to the duty of confidentiality. He still appreciates feedback: – Input for improvements is the best way we can get better, he says. Skrødal would like to emphasize that the Patient Travel Regulations do not state that patients only have the right to be transported back to an accident site. However, if you are traveling in Norway, you have the right to be transported to the last place of residence before the injury occurred. This is stated in the regulations: “After the health care has been provided, the travel expenses from the place of treatment to the place of residence are covered.” At home in Trondheim. Now the goal is to return to Namsen at the end of August. Photo: Morten Andersen
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Newly operated Stig only got a ride to the cabin – news Trøndelag
