I know there was some reference to this matter under the "expensive numbers banned" thread but I felt this relatively good news might be lost there, I will leave it to Dave if he wants to move it.

As some will know, there has been a battle going on for some time regarding the Trust's use of 0845 numbers for contacting hospitals in its area.   They seem always to have accepted that this was a breach and are working towards replacing the 0845; however, after much work and persuasion, I am delighted to say that they now list the 01242 222222 number on their Contact Us page as a direct alternative to the 0845.   Whether they have gone further & amended the signage in the hopsitals etc I do not know but at least this is a step in the right direction and a benefit to patients (even if the Trust still refers to "BT local rate"!)

I would like to thank SCV for all his help, advice & support in pursuing this matter, it made a tremendous difference.  I feel it does show, when we get disheartened & wonder sometimes why we bother, that change CAN be achieved & we just need to be persistent.

I would be most grateful if this 01242 222222 could be listed in the database as a verified alternative to 0845 222222.  Thanks.

Also, I will be monitoring the situation to ensure that the full change to appropriate numbers does happen.

Well done Barbara.  A just reward for all your hard work and determination.   :) :)

Barbara wrote on May 10^th, 2012 at 10:36am:

I would be most grateful if this 01242 222222 could be listed in the database as a verified alternative to 0845 222222.

Oops.

0845 422 2222

http://www.gloshospitals.org.uk/en/Contact-Us/

Barbara wrote on May 10^th, 2012 at 10:36am:

I would be most grateful if this 01242 222222 could be listed in the database as a verified alternative to 0845 222222.  Thanks.

This number is in the database and I believe that it has been so for a while as it has been known about by us.

It is also relevant for Gloucester Royal Hospital but doesn't show up from a search under that although this is the geo alternative shown on the website for both Cheltenham & Gloucester Hospitals so a reference would be helpful as services are split between the two sites.

Barbara wrote on May 11^th, 2012 at 12:22pm:

It is also relevant for Gloucester Royal Hospital but doesn't show up from a search under that although this is the geo alternative shown on the website for both Cheltenham & Gloucester Hospitals so a reference would be helpful as services are split between the two sites.

There was a verified entry for Gloucester Royal Hospital switchboard with the 0845 422 2222 number and alternative 01452 528555. As the published alternative number for both hospitals is 01242 222222, I have made this the listed alternative for both.

Source: Gloucestershire Echo (This is Gloucestershire)

Cheaper telephone calls for patients

Tuesday, November 13, 2012


Quote:

TELEPHONE numbers for the NHS in Gloucestershire are changing this month in order to make calls cheaper for patients. Currently all numbers to Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, NHS Gloucestershire and Gloucestershire Care Services are prefixed with 0845. But from the end of the month, the numbers will start with 0300. The previous 0845 numbers will be redirected for a time to ensure a smooth transition. Leaflets, stickers and posters are being put up in hospitals about the changes.

This is good news .....at last!!!   I think it was July 2011 when I first raised this & thanks must go to Dave & particularly SCV for pursuing this issue.  I wonder if it will have the desired effect of moving ALL NHS services in Gloucestershire away from 0845?   The out of hours GP service promotes its 0845 although our surgery has a link from their normal geo number but others don't, also the general contact no for Gloucestershire NHS is shown as 0845 so I think this still needs watching. 

Dave wrote on Nov 13^th, 2012 at 3:32pm:

Source: Gloucestershire Echo (This is Gloucestershire) Cheaper telephone calls for patients Tuesday, November 13, 2012 Quote: TELEPHONE numbers for the NHS in Gloucestershire are changing this month in order to make calls cheaper for patients. Currently all numbers to Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, NHS Gloucestershire and Gloucestershire Care Services are prefixed with 0845. But from the end of the month, the numbers will start with 0300. The previous 0845 numbers will be redirected for a time to ensure a smooth transition. Leaflets, stickers and posters are being put up in hospitals about the changes.

I wonder if these numbers will be amended as well?

Gloucestershire Hospitals Appointments

All of which start 0845 4

From the informal inside announcement which precedes a full public announcement that will follow shortly, it appears that all of the appointments numbers (ref CJT-80 #8) and the GP out of hours number (ref Barbara #7) are amongst those included in this major project.

It is said to cover all of the 0845 numbers (… 422 and … 659) used by Gloucestershire Hospitals, PCT and Care Services.

It will obviously not cover the independent contracted GPs listed here, of which 3 practices (5 surgeries) have very recently abandoned their 0844 numbers, presumably by failing to renew their 7 year contracts.

Like the Hospital, the PCT is nearly two years late in complying with the Department of Health Directions, for itself and for the services it has since handed over to Gloucestershire Care Services. It has still apparently done nothing to enforce the terms of the contract variations on its GPs, that came into effect on 1 April 2010.

Watch the fair telecoms campaign blog for news of the commentary that will accompany the forthcoming formal announcement of these number changes.

Thank you for the reassurance; it was already possible to access the central booking system via the 01242 number but obviously not everyone knew this.  Many of the local publications quote the 0845 numbers, once the 0300 is publcly available I shall try to contact the publishers when I come across these to ensure the new numbers are quoted.

For those who have not yet seen it, on the thisisgloucestershire website, the new 0300 numbers are being advertised with a flashing logo on the right hand side, very eye catching!    Don't know how & where else they are advertising, I didn't see it in yesterday's Cotswold Journal (a weekly), it may have been there but wasn't eye catching and it does cover a lot of Gloucestershire.   But it's there at last!!!!!

Barbara wrote on Nov 30^th, 2012 at 6:24pm:

For those who have not yet seen it, on the thisisgloucestershire website, the new 0300 numbers are being advertised with a flashing logo on the right hand side, very eye catching!    Don't know how & where else they are advertising, I didn't see it in yesterday's Cotswold Journal (a weekly), it may have been there but wasn't eye catching and it does cover a lot of Gloucestershire.   But it's there at last!!!!!

I can't see the flashing logo on This is Gloucestershire or anything about the number change on the home page for that matter. I see that Greggs in Cheltenham is on the move though...

So the printed edition didn't have a flashing graphic then?

Barbara wrote on Nov 30^th, 2012 at 6:24pm:

For those who have not yet seen it, on the thisisgloucestershire website, the new 0300 numbers are being advertised with a flashing logo on the right hand side, very eye catching!

Are they clearly making the point that "03 numbers cost the same as 01 and 02 numbers to call" and "03 numbers count towards 'inclusive minutes' bundles from both landlines and mobiles"?

Dave wrote on Nov 30^th, 2012 at 7:13pm:

Barbara wrote on Nov 30th, 2012 at 6:24pm: For those who have not yet seen it, on the thisisgloucestershire website, the new 0300 numbers are being advertised with a flashing logo on the right hand side, very eye catching!    Don't know how & where else they are advertising, I didn't see it in yesterday's Cotswold Journal (a weekly), it may have been there but wasn't eye catching and it does cover a lot of Gloucestershire.   But it's there at last!!!!! I can't see the flashing logo on This is Gloucestershire or anything about the number change on the home page for that matter. I see that Greggs in Cheltenham is on the move though... So the printed edition didn't have a flashing graphic then?

I only found this: http://www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk/NHS-phone-numbers-set-change-Gloucestershire/story-17371936-detail/story.html

I believe that this answers many of the questions.

Click the image to see it clearly in full size. See the complete poster at this link.

https://aqctqg.blu.livefilestore.com/y1pU_yJ1SUEqTfmrU03Jz9J5opT5aOTR9vqux0AQfsjjW5ziifkVvWRyfx4jy7XeZ2k1HGp8hFJJQwSMMo-Dz1E4gS_svYal0H2/teleposter.gif

The unqualified statement “no more than the cost of a call to an 01 or 02 number” is intended to mean what it says.

The comments at http://www.nhsglos.nhs.uk/telephonenumbering/ offer explicit reassurance, confirming that for all 03 numbers this does apply to inclusive packages and calls from mobiles.

The reason for choosing the 0300 range is given, although there is no explicit explanation of why the 0345 range was not chosen.

Whilst the latter portions of the numbers are being retained in most cases, there is some re-jigging of the middle portion to reflect organisational changes as a result of the NHS reforms, so that each (new) organisation may have a distinct block of numbers, as was the case previously.

For an organisation with many 084 numbers, 034 only provides a temporary "cheap fix". A move to 030 (or 033) has to happen when new numbers are required. I still maintain that this provides an appropriate option for DWP and HMRC, as in these times of restricted expenditure cheap fixes are needed.


One is always looking for ways in which a job such as this could have been done better. I have to say that if the excessive time it has taken for this change to be made has been used to get it right, then it has been well spent.

If I have a mobile phone contract with "300 minutes to landlines and mobiles" and "calls out of bundle are 25 pence per minute to landlines and mobiles", the statement "calls to 03 numbers cost no more than a landline call" may give me the expectation that I will be paying 25 pence per minute for calls to 03 numbers.

Adding "03 numbers are included in bundled minutes" makes it very clear that the call will be free. The information needs to be made very clear as it is easy to misread or misinterpret what is meant. Don't leave it to guesswork and supposition.

catj wrote on Dec 1^st, 2012 at 11:00am:

If I have a mobile phone contract with "300 minutes to landlines and mobiles" and "calls out of bundle are 25 pence per minute to landlines and mobiles", the statement "calls to 03 numbers cost no more than a landline call" may give me the expectation that I will be paying 25 pence per minute for calls to 03 numbers. Adding "03 numbers are included in bundled minutes" makes it very clear that the call will be free. The information needs to be made very clear as it is easy to misread or misinterpret what is meant. Don't leave it to guesswork and supposition.

You are correct. The term "landlines", as used in the terms of your (hypothetical) mobile phone contract needs clarification. If it is intended to refer only to 01 and 02 numbers, rather than non-geographic landline numbers such as 080/084/087 and 09 (as is the case with some mobile contracts), then it should be made plain that it also includes 03 numbers.

Unfortunately the statement "03 numbers are included in bundled minutes" would not be true in a case where the bundle did not include 01 and 02 numbers. Furthermore, the term "bundled minutes" is not generally used to describe the unlimited inclusive calls provided under the terms of landline Call Plans.

To completely cover the point and avoid any potential for confusion, a much longer statement would be required. In the context of a poster, I believe that the wording used is sufficient. Likewise, the more extensive information provided on the website is also sufficient and proportionate.

The real problem is the lack of proper, widely-understood terms to cover the different categories of telephone call types for the purpose of charging. Let us hope that Ofcom will address this fully and properly as it seeks to "Simplify Non-geographic Numbers".

Barbara wrote on Nov 30^th, 2012 at 6:24pm:

For those who have not yet seen it, on the thisisgloucestershire website, the new 0300 numbers are being advertised with a flashing logo on the right hand side, very eye catching!    Don't know how & where else they are advertising, I didn't see it in yesterday's Cotswold Journal (a weekly), it may have been there but wasn't eye catching and it does cover a lot of Gloucestershire.   But it's there at last!!!!!

The missing Gloucester flasher has now been located.

It can be viewed on the fair telecoms campaign blog. This provides links to other coverage of the news story.

The item is actually a Googlead. It contains a link (corrected in our presentation) to the information referred to above.

P.S. The fair telecoms campaign news and audio features will very shortly be expanded. Those keen to follow developments with news such as that discussed in this forum may want to keep an eye on the blog or register their support for the campaign.