Calling a doctor to a suicide 1942

[Rena]

The woman who called the doctor would have been paying the bill (pre. NHS) so isn’t it down to her to decide?

In the 1950s it was cheaper to dial 999 and ask for the police.   Any action the police took was not passed on to the caller.   
If a person dialled 999 and asked for an ambulance, then that person had to pay for the ambulance call out.

[Claire64]

[/quote]

In the 1950s it was cheaper to dial 999 and ask for the police.   Any action the police took was not passed on to the caller.   
If a person dialled 999 and asked for an ambulance, then that person had to pay for the ambulance call out.
[/quote]

I didn't know that.

[River Tyne Lass]

I didn't know suicide was classed as a crime until up to as late as 1961.  This probably explains why some war years deaths were explained away as accidents whereas I suspect it had been suicide.   About one young 1940s soldier in my area it was said in a newspaper that he must have had a sudden 'fit' and 'fallen in the river'.  About another it was said that he mustn't have heard the train coming. 

I daresay anyone would have wanted to accept any such explanations to eradicate any suspicion of shame over a 'crime'.  It is a shame things like depression & Post traumatic Stress Disorder were little understood all those years ago.

I didn't know that regarding ambulance call outs either .. we are so fortunate these days by comparison.

[louisa maud]

I think if an ambulance was called out for a accident they had to pay and could claim back  through their insurance

1947 ish I was taken to hospital very ill, don't remember my parents ever mentioning they had to pay  or for the 9 weeks I was in Tottenham fever hospital

LM

[AntonyMMM]

Ambulance call outs can still be charged for in some circumstances, most often after Road Traffic Accidents ( it gets billed to the insurance companies).

[ThrelfallYorky]

It's a long steep road from Hebden Bridge to Heptonstall. I wouldn't have liked to cycle up it. Perhaps wartime fuel restrictions meant he'd have had to do that - and although it's a loing time since you could simply drive a car up there, it wouldn't have been easy!!

[stanmapstone]

Suicide was a crime in England until 1961,

It was "attempted suicide" that people were arrested for.
Coroner's courts usually used terms implying the  person was not of sound mind at the time, usually without any evidence on which to base this assumption.

Stan

[stanmapstone]

The Suicide Act 1961 (9 & 10 Eliz 2 c 60) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It decriminalised the act of suicide in England and Wales so that those who failed in the attempt to kill themselves would no longer be prosecuted. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_Act_1961

Stan

[Rena]

Suicide was a crime in England until 1961,

It was "attempted suicide" that people were arrested for.
Coroner's courts usually used terms implying the  person was not of sound mind at the time, usually without any evidence on which to base this assumption.

Stan

I'm pretty sure I read in the newspapers more than once - when a person attempted but failed to commit suicide, they were taken to court and if found guilty were sentenced to be hung by their necks until dead.

Guess who didn't have any books to read.