Well, firstly 0844 numbers are not a geographic number - they are a rip off number that some NHS numbers have brought in. You will not be able to ring them from anywhere outside of the UK. The only hope you have is to contact the surgery and ask for their international number (which will be 0870, and even more expensive to call!)

I would also encourage you to write to the local MP for the area which the surgery is in and explain to them about the issues you are having calling the surgery. The surgeries need to be informed that it is unacceptable to use these numbers, and that people who are abroad will suffer as a consequence!

Well, the surgery should have been told of an international alternative number they can give to those who are calling from abroad. If they do not have one, you will have to speak to either your MP, or the local PCT, or even Ofcom, so that you can get that number. It is completely unacceptable that they should not be able to provide you with that number (aside from the numbers being a complete rip-off anyway).

If the surgery has said they don't know it, they won't know it, Unfortunately we cannot use the FOI against NEG so the most we would get from them would either be the 0870 number or nothing.

Thanks for all yiur helpful replies

Dave wrote on Feb 4^th, 2008 at 7:56pm:


That has been done in my neck of the woods and has not made the slightest difference, they ran the story for two or three weeks and it all fizzled out, this is a from on local doctor's website....

There has been a lot in the press about the new telephone system that the surgery is installing in October.

You may or may not be aware that part of the GPs contract with the NHS is that surgeries have to have annual patient surveys and act on improving any areas that are highlighted as being a problem.   Most of this survey is about access to the surgery and how easy it is to contact the surgery by telephone.  The results of these surveys and frequent comments from patients are that they do experience difficulties when phoning the surgery.  Comments range from the telephone ringing constantly with no answer, or it is engaged all the time.

Previously we had 2 separate lines for appointments and enquiries, but found that patients often tried each number in turn hoping to get through during busy periods and this causes a great deal of confusion for all.  Calls then had to be manually transferred internally to connect the patient to the correct person/number.  The system had been configured as efficiently as it can be, so to rectify these problems we looked at other systems.

The new system allows you as the patient to choose the most appropriate selection from a single telephone number.  It will then notify you as to how busy the lines are at the time you have called so you can call back at a different time if the problem is not of an urgent nature.

The selection you can choose are as follows and prioritised in order of the most frequently used:

   1.

     Appointments
   2.

     Visit requests
   3.

     Repeat prescriptions
   4.

     Test results
   5.

     All other Enquiries

This will also allow us see what selection has been made so the call can be handled in a more efficient manner. 

The cost of calling this new number has caused a lot of confusion and there has been a lot of misquoting of prices in the press.  The calls are charged at BTs local call rate on a standard line, it is NOT a higher rate 0870 type number.  If you have a ‘telephone package’ which promotes ‘free’ local calls they sometimes exclude the 0844 number.  If that is the case, ask your provider to include our number to the free section of your contract. The cost for a 4 minute call to a 0844 number is under 20p from a landline, but will vary with calls from a mobile.

We have given a great deal of thought before moving to this new system and have canvassed surgeries in West Sussex who have had it installed for some time and there is an overwhelming feeling of success and positive feedback from the patients and staff of those surgeries.

Yea right, the highlighted bit is bound to happen!!!!

Thank you all for your suggestions but I do not want to cause problems for my parents  by uspetting the surgery by contacting the press even under an assumed name.

I have an ex sister in law that works there so in an emergency I suppose I can contact her.

There are a lot of abbreviations is these replies that I am not familiar with

Jenpet - read this thread and felt I had to respond... Think I understand your predicament and fully sympathise (my dad is 81 and do the same, but luckily I live in the UK).

Also read various suggestions to complain or write to MP etc... but, understand you may not wish to do this / it may take too long to get a result.

There is another option (technically), but it would be very expensive - but this may not matter to you as much as gaining a direct line of communication with the surgery from abroad.

These days you can get what is known as a Geo Fix or Ghost Number, with (for example) and 0207 area code (which you can obviously call from abroad) and point this number at a specific UK 0844 number.

As I say, this is very expensive - there will be a set up fee for the Geo Fix, probably a monthly rental and they will charge you a transit fee + the 5ppm (pence per minute) call delivery cost for the 0844 number.

My guess would be somewhere around £25 set up, £10 a month rental and 8ppm call delivery.  I know this an awful lot of money to enable calling a doctors surgery in the UK !!  But, at least it is an option........

FYI - I'm not in NTS trade (so don't all shoot me and fully agree with the ethos of this site), but work with Call Centres / Advertising and have to keep an eye on the market.

There are a number of providers that could help you here, but certainly 'in call solutions' (you can google them) should be able to help you out here (they are C&W reseller).

Expensive... But, at least an option... Best of luck !