There Is Such A Thing As A Free Ride

I work in a call centre for the UK’s National Health Service (NHS), in a department that organises transport to the hospital for mobility-impaired patients. The service is free, but we do need some basic information from the caller.

Caller: “I need to book a transport to take me to hospital.”

Me: “That’s fine. Can I take your NHS number?”

Caller: “I don’t have one.”

Me: “If you check your prescription or a letter from the hospital, it’ll be on there.”

Caller: “Oh, I’ll just die then. Thank you.” *Hangs up.*