idb wrote on Jan 18^th, 2006 at 2:11am:


The picture of the little girl clutching her teddy bear in a hospital bed while taking a potential 47p a minute phone call from her parents at www.patientline.co.uk/yourservices.htm I think tells us everything we need to know about the morals of Mr Derek Lewis and his fellow Patientline directors.

There is an interesting statement at www.patientline.co.uk/trustservices.htm where under Trustline it says "Trustline, Patientline's telecoms division, has approved annex 2 operator status which permits connection to the local BT exchange and use of the BT network, at regulated wholesale rates.  This suppports Patientline's own requirments on site but can also provide very competitive telephone rates to the hospital designed to help Trusts save money.  So it appears that Patientline doesn't expect the hospital Trusts to pay the same kind of phone prices that they expect their patients, and especially their patients relatives, to have to pay.  I wonder why that is?

Ofcom have now reported back on their investigation into prices charged by Patientline and Premier for calling hospital patients.

See www.ofcom.org.uk/media/news/2006/01/nr_20060118

"Ofcom’s investigation has identified that high call prices are a result of a complex web of Government policy and agreements between the providers, the NHS and individual NHS Trusts.

In line with Office of Fair Trading (OFT) guidelines on investigations into issues resulting from Government policy, Ofcom has today written to the Secretary of State for Health, setting out its ongoing concerns and recommendations for the DoH.

As a consequence of Ofcom's investigation, the DoH, Patientline and Premier have committed to explore how they can offer communication services to hospital patients without charging such high prices for incoming calls. All three parties have already agreed to consider the insertion of a skip facility during the recorded message at the start of each call, enabling repeat callers to skip the message and reduce the cost of the call.

In the light of the above, Ofcom has decided to await the outcome of these discussions rather than reach final conclusions about individual agreements in relation to competition law at this stage."

As usual Ofcom adopts the let us all have a nice little chat about this approach rather than cracking down hard on the abusers.  This doesn't seem to be how the OfT does things.  Yet again Ofcom have proven that they are unfit to be delegated the OfT's powers in the telecoms arena.  The sooner these powers are retured to the OfT the better.

It beggars belief that all Ofcom's investigation has achieved so far is merely getting Patientline and Premier to consider adding a skip facility to the long recorded message.  Surely if Ofcom had any credibility at all these companies would have been immediately required to make such a change?!

Quote:
Disgraceful. Ofcom has to be 'on the take' here to clear these scammers of any wrongdoing. Fifty dollars per hour to call a patient is extortion.

Several media articles today, including http://www.sharecast.com/cgi-bin/sharecast/story.cgi?story_id=606468 - Patientline in clear after Ofcom inquiry

<<
Patientline has welcomed a decision by Ofcom to close its investigation into incoming call charges without finding any infringement by the company and without requiring any remedial action.

The company, which supplies a bedside telphone service to NHS patients, added that it agreed with Ofcom's findings that the high level of charges is a consequence of government policy, including the terms of the licence set by the Department of Health.

"'We welcome today's statement from Ofcom which recognises that Patientline's charges have been dictated by the structure of the government's programme. We have long wanted to reduce the burden currently placed on the relatives and friends of patients in funding this service," chairman Derek Lewis said.
>>

I'm afraid that there is major corruption involved here, where exactly I do not know, however the process is corrupt.

An item about patients paying up to 50p per min was on the 12 noon news, Radio 2

For anyone who doesn't yet know, here's the BBC News article:

BBC News | Health | Review of bedside phone charges

Smasher

Healthcare in the UK has a long history of pioneers - from Florence Nightingale to, more recently, Robert Winston. Today's modern equivalents are charlatan companies such as Patientline and its morally bankrupt chief, Derek Lewis, aided by the duplicitous and inadequate Ofcom. How things change.

Dave wrote on Jan 19^th, 2006 at 9:01pm:
Presumably because vacations to exotic locations are in jeopardy and it would be unwise to deprive oneself of these 'incentives'.

Dave wrote on Jan 19^th, 2006 at 9:01pm:
Absolutely. This is key to the scandalous behaviour by Mr Carter and his co-conspirators. They need to be held to account.

grimp wrote on Jan 20^th, 2006 at 2:38pm:


And what of Ofcom's mission to protect the interest of uk citizens and uk consumers as stated in Part 3(i) of the Communications Act 2003.

Stephen Carter may be ensuring that he can soon jump ship to another well paid New Labour quango by leaning on those conducting these investigations to produce the results he thinks the governemnt wants but he is doing nothing to enhance public confidence in Ofcom which is increasingly seen as little short of a laughing stock.

Even the pensions regulator has now got tough by insisting that money that a dodgy company was planning to distribute to shareholders goes into its pension fund but I don't think Ofcom would understand the concept of tough action against a telecoms company, even if its very survival depended upon it.

And if some of us here try to redress the balance by applying to be appointed on the Ofcom Consumer Panel our applications are immediately assigned to the Recyle Bin in favour of those who will meet some minority representation quota or other but make no waves.