I have received a response from the Ashton Health Centre, nothing more that you would expect:-

Main Surgery
Ashton Health Centre
Pedders Lane
Ashton
Preston
PR21HR

Tel:0844 4720001
Fax:0-1772768138
30th August 2007

Dear Mr Lawton,

Thank you for your letter regarding the telephone system that the three
practices use here at the health centre and I am sorry that you feel that are
communications network is unacceptable.

I can confirm however that the practice operates a Centrex Switchboard
system which is approved by the NHS bodies. The call charges to the
practice are that in line with the Telewest tariff for local call charges and are
4pence per minute which is the same as a BT network. The call charge could
be a maximum of 8pence per minute if being accessed via a mobile phone
network which again is line with BT charges.

The practice has not received a free switchboard or hardware from any
supplier, indeed the practices pay a monthly charge to the supplier to support
the facilities offered by a Centrex system.

I acknowledge your comments regarding queuing systems however previous
patient questionnaires and surveys heavily condemned the old system that
the practice employed and found constant engaged tones frustrating. The
telecommunications system which has been in place now for over 18 months
allows patients the option to select and access the most appropriate person
within the organisation without having to listen to an engaged tone. The
system also allows us to monitor our busiest times and therefore ensure
appropriate staff are in place to answer calls at the peak times. The queuing
system allows patients the option to either hold in a queue or call back if they
do not wish to hold. Although acknowledging your comments and concerns
the practice has received positive feedback in its recent patient satisfaction
surveys regarding the improved telephone access. Please also note that
patients can still call the old practice numbers if they so wish.

I have reviewed the Downing Street web-site and shall await with interest the
outcome of the petition in February 2008.

Thank you for raising your concerns with me and I will raise your specific
issues both with the practice user group and at the next internal review
meeting. I have also asked the Telewest Healthcare Manager to formally
review our contract and services offered to patients.

I have copied a copy of this response to the complaints team at Central
Lancashire PCT Should you still remain unsatisfied with the outcome of the
investigation you are able to contact the Healthcare commission for an
independent review of your case. The healthcare commission will review your
complaint within two months of the date of the final formal written response.
The Healthcare commission can be contacted at~:

Healthcare Commission
FREEPOST NAT 18958
Complaints Investigation Team
Manchester M1 9XZ
Telephone: 0845 6013012

Once again my sincere apologies and in the meantime if you would like to
discuss any aspect of this letter or meet with me please do not hesitate to
contact me.

Kind regards
Mrs L.A.Powler
Practice Manager
cc. Carol Hannon, Central Lancashire PCT



Notice the bit that is at the bottom of the letter, that I have highlighted in red!

She is having a meeting next Wednesday, 12th September with Telewest and someone from the health board? not sure who that is , but then she is on leave so I do not expect any further correspondence for about 2 weeks when she has said she will get back to me.

I( have just spoken to Louise Fowler pointing out the errors in her letter re call charges, she tells me that 
Telewest Communications Plc. provides the number and the service and that Ashton Health Centre has no contract with NEG Surgeryline! I find that hard to believe, and that is where she has got her pricing from, I have explained that the practice should supply the geo number alongside the 0844 number and she has said that all the old 01772 numbers still work, but after the meeting next week she will need to have a "business meeting" within the practice to discuss the issues that I have raised

If it is centrex then all the facilities are there, 084 is being greedy.
But retaining the 01xxx is also good if confusing; why not just use normal, non revenue share number?

http://www.blackburncitizen.co.uk/display.var.1673932.0.row_over_health_centre_p...

Row over health centre phone lines
By Pete Magill

<<
HEALTH chiefs have been condemned for putting wealth before health' in a row over phone systems at a number of East Lancashire medical centres.

Patients at medical centres in Padiham, Burnley Wood and Clayton-le-Moors must dial an 0844 number to make appointments or order a repeat prescription.

The lines are thought to be four pence more per minute than a BT landline - and mobile phone users face call charges of up to 35 pence per minute.

NHS bosses say the system is more efficient though - as it can provide a number of phone lines via a single number and costs the same to call from anywhere in the UK.

All three centres come under East Lancashire Primary Care NHS Trust. None in Blackburn and Darwen are believed to operate the system.

"People have been complaining about this in Padiham and I think it is a bit of a disgrace," said Granville Lord, a former councillor and mayor of Padiham.

"This is all about accessibility and availability. If people can receive health advice over the phone or pick up a prescription, rather than making an appointment, then that is what most health centres tend to want these days.

"It is sad in this day and age that surgeries are putting wealth before health. If the system is not broken then why fix it?"

A spokesman from East Lancashire PCT said : "The 0844 numbers have been suggested to use by the Department of Health to assist in accessing GPs, given that the patient can ring anywhere in the country and it would still be a local call rate.

"In trying to streamline the GP practice answering service and to cut down waiting times on phone calls, the health centre turned to a new digital system that could give various options to patients when they phoned in.

"This has speeded up the service considerably, by reducing the time spent on the phone for patients, and helping to cut down on long and frustrating engaged' waiting times before a patient gets through, particularly at busy times.

"The evidence indicates that the majority of people use landlines to contact their GP and the number of patients affected because they are using a mobile is small.

"It is worth noting that the move to an efficient telephone system is anticipated to reduce the connection time for people making an appointment and of the few who use a mobile, fewer still will spend less than a minute on the phone."

The 0844 prefix has also been adopted by a number of surgeries in the Preston area.
>>

derrick wrote on Sep 7^th, 2007 at 4:44pm:


Sorry - local call charges are 4ppm? Since when? Also, a maximum of 8ppm from a mobile phone?! According to my phone provider, O2, calls to 0844 numbers are charged at 20-25ppm. That is hardly 8ppm!! What planet is Mrs Powler living on?!?!

Is this a glitch in the campaign re 0844 being revenue sharing? or am I missing something?

From BTs page, http://www.productsandservices.bt.com/btbusinessProducts/displayProduct.do?produ...

Under the heading "COSTS"

"Revenue share          No revenue share with this number"

Dave wrote on Sep 8^th, 2007 at 2:54pm:



Yes I understand that, but why does BT say "No revenue share with this number"?

If I want to quote that page re the name for 0844 numbers being Contactcall, I might shoot myself in the foot because the organisation I am complaining to could just say, that page says "no revenue sharing with this number" and I can't get out of it!

There are lots of providers of 0844 numbers, just because BT doesn't provide revenue from them doesn't mean the rest don't - BT have traditionally been viewed as the expensive people to get service from.



Not related to this, but handy for general argument, I was doing some digging and came across this file:
http://www.flextel.co.uk/ofcom/20051206_ngn_cost_comparison.pdf

It's a handy list of call costs to various NGN prefixes from each of the mobile operators - I didn't know the range was so huge.. (£1.20/min to call an 0800??)  

It's 18months old now unfotunately, but gives it's sources so a new one could be compiled.  (Just checked t-mobile site here- up to £2.50/min to call "other 08")

loddon wrote on Aug 30^th, 2007 at 12:48pm:


Lodden, apologies but i dont read this post frequently.

The acronyms I have used are as fllows.
mcc Minimum call charge. The minimum cost that is charged by the calling parties telecom provider for a call regardless of duration (BT 3pence to 5pence, BT payphone 40pence etc.)

IVR/ICR Interactive Voice / Call Response.This is the software that allows calls to be answered, and then directed to the correct extension when the user either speaks, or pressesbuttons on their handset. (Allows calls to be answered automatically, reducing the number of telephone operators who frequently take a call, and pas it straight to a different extension).

IN Intelligent network. The hardware and software that is used by Telco's to direct the NGN call to a specific nuber, and then reroute if certain parameters are met (out of hours, no answer, call volume exceed capacity of surgery etc.)

You are correct that all of these facilities can be achieved using a Geographic number. It would be a simple procedure to use a Local STD number that terminates at the IN, and is then delivered to either a surgery or other number as per the individual requirements. This is not an inexpensive option however as every call is counted as two calls (one from BT - the Geo provider and another rom the Geo provider to the surgery).

As i have no working history with NEG, i cannot offer an answer to whether Surgeries get alternative proposals for the services.

If you require any furthers answers from me directly, please email me to advise as I do not wish to appear rude by not responding in a timely manner.

Best regards. Simond