Even now they switch to 0844 despite the fact they shouldnt be using them.See:

www.guardian-series.co.uk/news/rbnews/9880694.WANSTEAD__Community_groups_criticise_surgery_s_decision_to_use_premium_rate_number/

Wilmslow Health Centre changed in March:


Quote:

…The new number allows patients to call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to book, cancel or rearrange appointments. The new number is 08432-909-209 and is charged as a “local rated” call.(Please note that this is a “local rated” number and that calls to this number may be charged as different rates by different telephone and mobile phone providers. Please check with your telephone or mobile phone line provider for further clarification of call charges to this number.)

Here we have an example of the sorts of twaddle that 084 abusers employ: it is charged as a “local rated” call but this isn't necessarily the same charge as a local call.  ::)


Quote:

Inevitably we will receive some queries regarding the cost of phoning an 0844 number and we would like to reassure our patients that we have confirmed with our new network provider that when dialling from a fixed line our patients will not be charged more than the equivalent cost of calling a geographic number. It is the BT Standard plan that is the only regulated tariff used by OFFCOM, and it is acceptable industry practice to use this tariff as the only workable comparator for assessing the comparative costs of calls.

You should make sure the practice manager is aware of your grievance.

Point out that GPs must use a number that costs no more than an 01 number to call, whether from a landline or from a mobile.

Point out that 0844 numbers were banned in April 2010 and GPs were given until April 2011 to comply.

You'll most likely be met with the following arguments for their use of an 0844 number:


Quote:

It's a local rate call at somewhere betwen 2 and 6 pence per minute.

This is simply not true. "Local rate" was abolished by BT in 2006. For most callers, calls to 01 (and 02/03) numbers from landlines appear in their bundled minutes and are effectively "free".

Calls to 0844 numbers from landlines are almost always chargeable and so the caller is paying "more" to call their GP on an 0844 number than they would on an 01 number.

The Advertising Standards Authority have already taken action against many companies incorrectly claiming their 084 number is a "local rate" call. This is a "misleading pricing indication".


Quote:

If you're calling from a mobile you should expect to pay more.

Sure, yes; if you call an 01 number from a mobile it might cost more than calling an 01 number from a landline, but that is not the point. GPs are required to provide a number that costs no more to call from a mobile than an 01 number costs from a mobile. 0844 numbers fail that test.

Callers using their mobile phone on a contract have 01 (and 02/03) numbers within their bundled minutes and those calls are effectively "free". Calls to 0844 numbers from a mobile phone cost up to 41 pence per minute "more" than calling 01 numbers.

For callers using a pay-as-you-go phone, calls to 01 numbers typically cost from 5 to 25 pence per minute, but calls to 0844 numbers typically cost 25 to 41 pence per minute. This is patently "more". The other problem here is that the caller isn't charged as soon as they start talking, instead they are usually put in a queue for at least several minutes - all the while being charged and running their credit down.


Quote:

We offer a callback service.

That's not good enough. The caller has already spent a hefty sum in the queue before getting to speak to someone.


Quote:

We don't make any money out of this.

By it's very nature the 0844 number carries a service charge (or "premium") of several pence per minute. That money goes somewhere - usually to the supplier of the equipment the surgery now uses to receive calls from patients. Their phone line supplier rakes off several pence per minute from every call made to the surgery even if the surgery doesn't directly benefit.


Quote:

Patients have demanded this.

That all depends on what "this" is. They might have wanted a more efficent way to contact their GP, but were probably not aware that the call cost would increase by up to 41 pence per minute on the 0844 scheme their GP has chosen.

Patients were probably asked "do you want a queueing system on a local-call rate number?" By using an 0844 number the patients now have a queueing system on a premium (small "p") rate number.


Quote:

We did a survey in the first two weeks and most callers loved it.

At that time, almost none of them would have had sight of their phone bill detailing the cost of the relevant calls. A survey several months in would be much more revealing.


Quote:

We can't cancel the contract.

They don't have to. There's an 0344 number already reserved for their exclusive use. All 03 numbers are charged at the same rate as 01 and 02 numbers from landlines and from mobiles and are included in bundled "free" minutes on both landline and mobile packages.


You can refer them to many recent articles in major national newspapers that clearly state that 0844 numbers are banned.

You could refer them to the statement made by the Secretary of State in Parliament in March 2012 when he said:
"We have made it very clear that GPs should not be using 0844 numbers for that purpose and charging patients for them."
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2012-03-27a.1326.4&s=%28no+OR+not%29+AND+0844+AND+numbers#g1327.0

They could watch the Northern Ireland Assembly debate from May 2012 where these points were quite clearly made in detail by several people.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/democracylive/hi/northern_ireland/newsid_9724000/9724397.stm

You could refer them to David Hickson's massive amount of background material and to the fine media interviews found here and here.


It's inexcusable that two years after the ban, GPs are still signing up to this scheme.

It's doubly inexcusable that the product is still offered for sale to GPs when it is not fit for purpose.


Write to your MP.

I am happy to endorse all of the above comments from catj.

There is however just one point on which one has to be a little careful.


catj wrote on Aug 30^th, 2012 at 11:04pm:

"Local rate" was abolished by BT in 2006.

Strictly speaking, it is not "local rate" that was abolished, but the distinction between "local rate" and "national rate" in charging. BT bills still identify geographic calls as "local" or "national" even though the rate is the same.


Whilst the BT charge for calling 0845 numbers was once tied to its standard rate for local calls by regulation (it is no longer), that has never been true for 0844/3.

It is also worth pointing out that the claim of the BT rate for calling geographic numbers being regulated by Ofcom is totally false. It is the BT charge for calling non-geographic numbers (essentially only the pence per minute element) that continues to be regulated. Furthermore, this regulation is wholly unrelated to the BT charge for calling geographic numbers. The regulation ensures that BT is uniquely unable to add any "Access Charge" of its own to the "Service Charge" which is to the benefit of the person called.

This regulation makes BT charges the most UNSUITABLE case to use for determining the cost of calling a 084 number. The suggestion that regulation makes BT a suitable case for such determination has the issues completely upside down.

Reference to the "BT Standard" tariff is also totally spurious. This tariff no longer exists - it ceased to apply to residential customers in 2004. It is sadly still referred to in the National Numbering Plan, even though the relevant reference is meaningless, because there are no customers to whom it applies.

This is additional information - well done catj!!

Thanks for the clarification on some of the other finer points. I'll be sure to add those the next time the question comes up. At the current rate that will be only a few weeks away.