St John increasing ambulance charges

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St John Ambulance is confident people will not be too put out by its decision to increase charges.

Patient part-charges vary across the country, but all fees are going up by between $4 and $10 from next month.

By April next year the standard charge for all patients will go up to $88.00.

Operations manager Michael Brooke said a lot of work has gone into the decision.

"We actually went out and did a lot of surveying of people, to understand what people thought.

"We got quite a clear message from the public that they are very happy to pay something here."

Mr Brooke said people they spoke to saw a limit in fees, but said it was still a long way off.

St John provides ambulance services on a partial user-pays basis across the country, with the exception of Wellington and Wairarapa, where services are provided by Wellington Free Ambulance.