"At that stage I hadn't even met my daughter," she said. The officer spent 30 minutes pressuring her to sign blank documents which later led to an apology from the hospital over the incident and an investigation. Victoria Baumfield, assistant professor at Bond University's Faculty of Law. "I was shocked at the timing and the pressure placed on me in what was clearly a terrible time for myself and my daughter," she said. Bond University law professor Victoria Baumfield said she was approached late at night after being admitted to Robina Hospital as an emergency patient last year and told it was hospital policy to make patients use their private health insurance.

Loading "Keep in mind this was late, I was alone, and had been sleeping when she came to see me," said Dr Baumfield. Despite making it clear that she wanted to remain a public patient, she discovered the officer had checked the 'yes' box to a question asking if she wanted to go private. The officer later said she had pre-checked the box and had "forgotten" to cross it out. "I am not a shrinking violet and have no problem defending myself, yet still found it disturbing how aggressively these hospital administrators tried to pressure me to sign the private patient forms - especially since in both situations I was vulnerable and was not given any time to research the issue or seek advice about what my rights and obligations were," she said. Dr Baumfield, who worked for 10 years as an insurance lawyer, described the practise as a type of fraud.

In Victoria, a veteran nurse said she was pressured to sign-in as a private patient. "This appeared to me to be a blatant move to make me wait the required 4 hours so as (sic) could admit me as a private patient to collect the fee from my health fund," she said. Sydney University lecturer Richard Hanney said the practise of cash-strapped public hospitals targeting privately insured patients was "aggressive, deliberate and structured". Dr Hanney said these hospital officers approached people with private health insurance in emergency departments where "patients are most vulnerable and often not in a fit state to think".

The private health insurance industry has complained that the cost of servicing private patients in public hospitals has lifted to $1 billion and was putting upward pressure on premiums. Ahead of an election on Saturday, NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard declined to comment when asked whether there was a growing problem with hospitals adopting these tactics. There has been little change in this for a number of years, despite a significant increase in the number of patients using our public health system overall. Victorian Health Minister Jenny Mikakos Victorian Health Minister Jenny Mikakos said only a small number of private patients were admitted to Victorian public hospitals. "There has been little change in this for a number of years, despite a significant increase in the number of patients using our public health system overall," she said.

Readers responded in droves to the original story on Monday below is a selection of the stories they told: Broken finger A reader went into Logan Hospital with a shattered finger 5pm on a Saturday last year. He waited three days in a ward for surgery, rather than pay $1000 to go to a private hospital, and was approached to use his private health insurance as he was leaving. Baby emergency Another reader told of his son being admitted at five weeks of age with a kidney infection and sepsis. He was asked twice to sign while his son was undergoing emergency resuscitation. He declined as he was concerned about incurring additional costs. "They then came to the room the next day and asked my wife to sign as it would help support research, she signed. I was furious," he said.

Canberra Hospital Another spoke of his son being brought into Canberra Hospital by ambulance after a suicide attempt. They were later asked to sign him in as a private patient to 'help the hospital'. "We were obviously very stressed about our son and certainly felt pressured to sign," he said. Excess charges One reader told of how she arrived by ambulance and in no state to make decisions when she was convinced to go private. As her cover was less than a year old she had to prove to her insurer that it was not a pre-existing condition and faced a $500 excess charge. "I am still angry about it," she said. Old problem

"This has been going on for years. When my late mother was admitted to a public hospital through emergency, I was contacted four times, with increasing pressure, to approve the use of her private health insurance," said another reader.