If the ambulance doesn't arrive. What to do, where to call, and how to protect your rights?

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Published: 01/03/2020

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The ambulance refused to come when called. What to do in such a situation? What to do and where to complain? Or maybe the actions of health workers are legal? We understand an ambiguous situation.

• Legal norms governing the work of the ambulance. The right of citizens to medical care
• What to do if doctors refuse to come
• Institutions for contacting the head of the ambulance station
• Contacting the police
• Appeal to the Ministry of Health
• To the prosecutor's office

Legislation

1. Functional responsibilities of the ambulance (hereinafter referred to as SP):

• 323-FZ;
• Orders of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation No. 33n, 388n.

1. The list of necessary medications that should be available to the SP doctor is an appendix to the Order of the Ministry of Health No. 388n.
2. Art. 11 No. 323-FZ - medical care from ambulance paramedics is free, it cannot be refused.
3. The right of every person to receive medical care:

• Art. 19 323-FZ;
• Art. 41 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation;
• Government Resolution No. 1492.

1. Art. 124, 125 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - they did not provide assistance, they left them in danger.
2. Art. 11 of Order of the Ministry of Health No. 388n - when you can go to an ambulance.
3. Art. 16 326-FZ - about health insurance.

Responsibilities

In what cases is the ambulance team required to arrive:

1. Acute illness - the patient did not see a doctor before the call.
2. Injured due to a car accident or natural disaster; assault at home, in a public place.
3. Suddenly became unwell (cardiac/respiratory arrest, anaphylactic shock, stroke).
4. Childbirth, miscarriage, sudden deterioration in the pregnant woman’s condition.
5. An accident occurred (they were burned, frostbitten, cut, broke a limb, damaged any part of the body).
6. For children under one year of age for any disease.
7. Mentally unhealthy people behave violently and are capable of harming others.

The dispatcher correctly refuses to dispatch a brigade if:

1. The patient's health has deteriorated, but he is being monitored by his local doctor.
2. The cause of the disease is hangover.
3. Teeth hurt.
4. They require dressing at home, inhalation, and injections prescribed by the doctor at the clinic.
5. You need to write out a prescription or sick leave.
6. Record death.
7. Get to the hospital, move from one medical facility to another.

The SP should not be confused with a taxi or an on-call nurse. All scheduled treatment procedures are performed in the clinic.

Free HOTLINE:

Moscow time 8 (499) 938 6124

St. Petersburg 8 (812) 425 6761

Fed 8 (800) 350 8362

There are differences between ambulance (emergency) and emergency care. In the first case, the patient's life is at risk. In the second, there is no danger of dying, but a person still needs qualified medical work. The arrival time of an emergency ambulance is 20 minutes, emergency - within 2 hours.

Important! The absence of an insurance policy is not a reason to refuse a patient examination and assistance.

Grounds for complaint

You can file a complaint in the following cases:

1. Unlawful refusal to visit a patient.
2. If they drive for a long time, it’s worth considering that the crew may be busy on another call and get stuck in traffic.
3. They arrived on time, but assistance was not provided in a timely manner.
4. The disease was incorrectly identified.
5. Negligence of doctors, incompetence, rude behavior, neglect of the patient.
6. Necessary medications are not available.
7. They demand money for the services provided - in our country the joint venture is free, operating 24 hours a day.
8. Transportation of the patient was transferred to the shoulders of relatives.

Important! If doctors prove that the mistake was not their fault, there will be no punishment. For example, they were late for a call because several more requests had been received before it, and there were not enough doctors to travel. Or they couldn’t arrive quickly due to traffic congestion.

Right to one call

The next mistake that most people make is that they think they only have the right to make one call. It happens that after this call occurs, the police officers start calling you back on your phone, but some kind of scam begins. They call, as a rule, from their personal mobile phones and say, stop calling 102, stop calling there, stop calling there again, and if you call there again, we will issue you a false call.

It should be understood that this is a typical scam, they are just covering themselves.

Please know that the standard time for a police squad to arrive is 10 minutes. If the person on duty at number 102 said that the police will come to you, he sends a duty squad to you and if after 10 minutes the police have not arrived, you can safely call 102 again. We call and say that you were promised that a squad would arrive, but the squad didn’t arrive, and you can continue like this every 10 minutes.

You can even leave a complaint. Few people know that in general, when calling 102, you can verbally leave a complaint about the actions of police officers who, in this situation, did not come to you at the time established by administrative regulations.

Every 10 minutes you can dial number 102. Call and say that you were promised an order, but the order did not arrive. It is very likely that you will receive calls from unfamiliar numbers asking you not to call. Tales will begin about how we can’t find the entrance, we’ve run out of gas, we don’t have people, and so on. You are not interested in all this, you act in accordance with administrative regulations, do not allow yourself to be deceived, police officers tend to make things up.

Ignorance of one's own rights

You have a huge number of rights when contacting service 102. You have the right, for example, in the event of some kind of conflict situation with police officers, to call there and invite the person in charge from the management to the place. That is, you can call and say: “Hello, I have a conflict situation with a police squad, we can’t figure it out, please invite the person in charge from the management here.”

And a policeman will have to come, although not a general, but at least a major, a man of senior officers, their leader, and will sort out this situation.

However, keep in mind that this coin has another side, if you are wrong about something, if you yourself are not sure that you are right, then it is better not to call the person in charge, because if they are wrong, he will go down on his subordinates , but if you are wrong, then you will answer to the fullest extent of the law and there will be no escape from this.

Sample complaint against ambulance for actions or inactions

Additional recording of violations by doctors is welcome:

• recording a telephone conversation with the dispatcher;
• witness's testimonies;
• personal account details per day.

The actions of the doctor who came to the call are listed in as much detail as possible. If a conflict arises and the reason for writing a statement is the behavior of the paramedic, try filming it. There are no special requirements for the form of the document; it is drawn up on a general basis. A sample can be found on the Internet.

It is permissible to complain about the entire team as a whole or about a specific doctor. The text of the letter states:

• position and full name of the people being complained about;
• brigade number;
• time and date of departure (refusal to leave) - if there were several cases, describe each time they tried to call an ambulance separately;
• the essence of the statement;
• requirements, wishes;
• reference to the law, date, signature.

Important! The dispatcher cannot determine over the phone whether a paramedic is required or not. The car must be sent anyway!

Keep the tone of the letter businesslike. Obscene language and slander are prohibited. If written by hand, the handwriting should be legible. The document must be drawn up in two copies. One is transferred to a higher authority, the second remains with the patient (with a mark of acceptance).

Ministry of Health

The regional Ministry of Health has reception rooms for ordinary citizens at specially designated times. Here you have the opportunity to defend your rights and position, to achieve a solution to the problem regarding medical personnel. After a check has been carried out in relation to those officials who are indicated in your appeal, if your arguments are confirmed, they will be punished depending on the degree of their guilt.

The letter is written in free form. You can send it through Russian Post or email. A response to your letter is given a month from the date of submission of the application, regardless of how the letter was sent: electronically or in writing.

Where to write and who to complain to if it takes a long time to travel or doesn’t arrive

To begin with, inform the manager at the paramedic’s place of work (chief ambulance and/or chief physician). Then they turn to supervisory and regulatory authorities. It is allowed to duplicate the application simultaneously in several structures.

To the station manager

The head of the joint venture team is the first authority to write to. The actions/inactions of the paramedic will be discussed in detail at the planning meeting. Most likely, there will be a “debriefing” with the chief physician. You can also contact him regarding issues of incompetence of subordinates.

The patient must be notified in writing of the measures taken and the chosen punishment. The perpetrators, depending on the severity of the act, may be deprived of bonuses or fired.

Ministry of Health or Roszdrav

Roszdravnadzor employees have medical education. Their powers include conducting an independent examination. These ministries may face disciplinary action.

Attention! The presence of citizenship or its absence does not matter - the patient must be examined and assistance provided.

To the police

You need to complain to the police if the SP refuses to come. Leaving a person in danger and failing to provide assistance, leading to serious consequences, is a criminal offense.

A doctor arriving under the influence or intentionally causing harm to a patient is the province of police work.

To the prosecutor's office

Where can we get justice if the Ministry of Health is inactive? The answer is filing a complaint with the prosecutor's office. The rules for drawing up a document are similar. The addressee in the header will change. Applications are accepted based on jurisdiction and territorial location. Confirmation is required that the call has been received by the dispatcher. Attach:

• responses from organizations to previously filed complaints (from wherever applications have already been sent);
• call card or its copy, extract from the call log;
• other available evidence.

The call card can be obtained at the location of the ambulance station (only upon written request). The prosecutor's office is notified if the physician's incompetence is revealed, i.e. his actions/inactions led to severe deterioration in health or death.

Where to write about the actions/inactions of ambulance staff?

If a dispatcher or emergency doctor refuses to help a patient or behaves rudely, then a person should know where he can turn if he discovers unlawful behavior by employees of a medical organization.

He has the right to file a complaint with the following authorities:

To the head of the rapid assistance station

This is the easiest and fastest way to solve a problem situation.

By writing a complaint to the head of the ambulance station, the guilty employees will be called in for a conversation.

If the fact of their neglect of official duties is established, then the manager will make a decision regarding the culprits - punish or fire them.

To the Ministry of Health or Roszdravnadzor

These authorities should be contacted if the head of the express station has not responded to the patient’s complaint.

A complaint to the Ministry of Health must be written by hand in A4 format, making sure to indicate in the text when the ambulance was called, for what reason, why the person is dissatisfied with the actions of the medical personnel, etc.

A complaint to the Ministry of Health can be sent by mail, brought in person, or sent by email . The responsible officer must respond to the person's written complaint within 30 days.

To the prosecutor's office

A person can contact this regulatory body if the cause of the complaint was the careless attitude of the medical personnel, as a result of which the patient’s health condition deteriorated, the doctor caused serious harm to the patient’s health, or the person died from the actions/inactions of the medical personnel.

To the police

The basis for filing a complaint to the police about an ambulance may be the refusal of medical personnel to provide assistance, visiting a patient while intoxicated, or intentionally causing harm to the patient’s health.

To court

If the damage caused is too great, then the person has the right to file a claim in court.

Where can I call

To complain to the Department of Health, you need to call the toll-free hotline number - 8-800-200-03-89. Citizens from all over the country can apply here. The application will be forwarded to the regional unit of the Ministry of Health. Or for residents of Moscow.

Roszdravnadzor throughout the Russian Federation - 8-800-500-18-35.

Ministry of Health throughout Russia, 8-800-333-55-51.

Telephone numbers of medical supervisory authorities by region are collected on the official website of the Ministry of Health. You can call 24 hours a day.

Where to complain

Complaints about emergency services are accepted:

1. Chief physician of the ambulance station.
2. Territorial bodies of the Ministry of Health.
3. Roszdravnadzor.
4. Prosecutor's office.
5. Police.

Management

First of all, you should complain to the head doctor of the institution. To do this, you should check by calling “03” (or 103 from a mobile phone) which substation the address to which the team was called belongs to. Its leader must:

• accept and consider the complaint;
• take the necessary measures against the guilty persons: issue a reprimand, deprive of bonuses, dismiss, etc.;
• inform the applicant of the results.

The solution to the issue will largely depend on the personality of the manager and his desire to improve the work of his subordinates. If he refuses to resolve the incident, you should contact other authorities.

Ministry of Health

The bodies of the Ministry of Health are represented in different constituent entities of the Russian Federation by regional structures (Departments, Directorates, Committees), whose specialists deal, among other things, with issues of violation of the rights of citizens regarding the provision of emergency medical care. It makes no sense to complain to the Main Office, since the appeal will still be sent for consideration to the department at the place of the incident, which will require additional time to send documents, which will only increase the waiting time for a response.

In Moscow, a complaint can be sent to:

• By Russian Post (preferably by registered mail with notification) to the address: 127006, Moscow, Oruzheyny lane, 43, building 1. Information about registering a written appeal can be obtained by phone numbers or.
• Through the Public Reception at the address: Moscow, 2nd Shchemilovsky Lane, 4A.
• At a personal reception with the leadership of the Department. The reception schedule and telephone numbers for pre-registration are listed at https://mosgorzdrav.ru/ru-RU/reception.html.
• By phone (hotline) or 8 (495) 777-77-77 (Unified reference service of Moscow, including on issues of quality and availability of free medical care).
• By email
• Through the online form for requests https://www.mos.ru/feedback/reception/, selecting the Department of Health as the addressee.

After studying the appeal, the authenticity of the facts described in it will be verified. If confirmed, measures are taken taking into account the severity of the violation.

Roszdravnadzor

In cases of negligence, incompetence, or demands for a bribe, you can complain to the local branch of Roszdravnadzor. Its employees have the right to conduct independent inspections of violations and hold health workers accountable.

Residents of Moscow and the Moscow region should send complaints to:

1. In writing to the address: 127206, Moscow, st. Vucheticha, 12 A;
2. Call the hotline or 8 (916) 256-76-76 (for calls from 9:00 to 17:45, on Friday - until 16:30, lunch break from 13:00 to 14:00).
3. Via the application form https://77reg.roszdravnadzor.ru/services/people. If the complaint implies the need to verify the stated facts, you must first log in to the ESIA system.

Contact information for other regional branches of Roszdravnadzor can be found on the official website of the department https://roszdravnadzor.ru/ by selecting the name of the corresponding district and subject of the Russian Federation on the left side of the page.

Prosecutor's office

The prosecutor's office is obliged to monitor compliance with the law, therefore, in the complaint it is important to indicate the actions of the paramedic or ambulance doctor, which are illegal according to current legislation. This authority should be contacted in case of an incorrect diagnosis, harm to health due to incorrectly selected medications, or other actions/inactions of health workers, when an appeal to the Ministry of Health or Roszdravnadzor did not bring the desired result or was left without attention.

You should complain to the Prosecutor's Office at your place of residence. Moscow residents can:

1. Send a letter to the address: 109992, Moscow, pl. Peasant Zastava, 1.
2. Bring the letter to the reception of the Prosecutor's Office and personally place it in the correspondence drop box.
3. Come to a personal appointment at the specified address from 9:00 to 18:00 (on Friday - until 16:45), taking into account the lunch break from 13:00 to 13:45.
4. Send an application through the online reception https://www.mosproc.ru/ipriem/

On a note! You can find out the work schedule, addresses and contact numbers of the Prosecutor's Office in other constituent entities of the Russian Federation on the website of the General Prosecutor's Office at the link https://genproc.gov.ru/contacts/map/?DISTR=&SUBJ=,

Police

You can complain about an ambulance to the police if you commit actions that imply criminal liability: causing harm to health (intentional or due to negligence), arriving in a state of intoxication, refusal to provide assistance, extortion, etc.

In addition, you can contact law enforcement officers if the dispatcher refuses to place a call, which can be qualified under Art. 124 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “Failure to provide assistance to a patient” or Art. 125 "Leaving in danger." In this case, you should call the police hotline, and its employees will already contact the ambulance station. After such actions, the team often arrives immediately.

How to submit

Ways to complain:

1. Apply in person.
2. Send by mail: registered letter + list of enclosed documents + notification of delivery.
3. Use the Internet.

For postal items, there is a mandatory condition - to indicate the return address.

For your information! Anonymous applications will not be considered!

You can contact the Ministry of Health online using this link. Electronic complaint to Roszdravnadzor. Internet reception of the Prosecutor General's Office. You can complain to any police department or prosecutor’s office on the official website if there is a “feedback” option.

An application is also sent to the prosecutor's office through Gosuslugi.

Don't follow the dispatcher's lead

It is important to know that when calling the police, you are not required to identify yourself. Any appeal or report of a crime, regardless of whether it is anonymous or not, must be recorded. They may start telling you that you must wait for the police, but you are not obliged to wait for the police on the spot, you are not obliged to go somewhere with these people, you are not obliged to give any explanations, statements and everything else.

They will tell you that then you will have to spend a lot of time, go to the operative, go to the investigator, go to court, but you are not obligated to do all this. If you see a crime, an offense or something else, then your task, as a conscientious citizen, is simply to report it to law enforcement agencies, and then it’s their job, you can go about your business.