Dave wrote on Jun 17^th, 2011 at 9:25am:


0844 811 3060?

http://www.solent.nhs.uk/page.asp?fldArea=18&fldMenu=9&fldSubMenu=0&fldKey=169

Abbey Medical Centre of Abbey Road, NW8 has changed its 0844 number back to a local 020 number.

From its home page:
Quote:

The number 0844 477 3568 is still live and does not have any redirector message.

I received on 14th June a reply from my MP after I asked him on 29th April to Support stopping this illegal use of expensive 0844 GP Numbers, he contacted our West Kent PCT and enclosed a copy of their reply which in effect said they had reviewed this and were assured that :

" Generally calls made to NHS contractors using 0844 number should be charged at a local rate if calls are made from callers with a BT Standard Rate Tariff only. However if a customer is not on a Standard Rate Rariff their Service Provider can charge more for the call, if that is the case the customer should follow this up with their Service Provider as customers are informed of the T & C their Service Provider offer and this is so as there is freedom of choice as to which Service Provider a person signs up to for their phone service "

In other words they are not interested in stopping it and GO CHANGE YOUR PHONE SERVICE  - ditch your phone bundle to suit your GP -  I dont think BT do a Standard Tariff now, it is either Anytime or Evening and Weekend - nothing else

I am going to phone West Kent PCT when I have double checked that there is no Standard Tariff on BT and it would be local if their was still Standard - will update after I have phoned BT

speedy wrote on Jul 7^th, 2011 at 12:01am:

I have in my position a written statement from an authoritative source in BT, endorsed by its communications office, which confirms:

Quote:

The officer concerned has promised to make enquiries about why a rate which does not apply to any customers is still published in the customer price list.

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speedy wrote on Jul 7^th, 2011 at 12:01am:

This is an interesting policy for West Kent PCT to have developed at its own discretion.

It is quite different from the terms of the relevant contract, as approved by parliament, which states:

Quote:

This is the essence of the requirements which West Kent PCT has the powers and duty to enforce.

West Kent PCT has adopted a policy whereby "persons" is qualified, so that it applies to nobody, in what amounts to a re-writing of this simple statement. This is a rather radical interpretation of its statutory duty to have regard to the rights under the NHS Constitution. The first of these Rights states that all persons have access to NHS services without charge, except those charges explicitly sanctioned by parliament.


Ann Sutton, the Chief Executive of the Kent and Medway PCT Cluster, along with her 50 colleagues, has received this message. Officers of the PCTs cannot claim that they have not been invited to consider the reality of the situation. They have a duty to verify claims made by others and to disregard spurious suggestions about the position taken by the Department of Health and the false idea that there is any general regulation of charges for calling 084 numbers, or any regulation relating that cost to the cost of calling geographic numbers.

It is for each PCT to understand the simple words quoted above, as they are written. If they choose to add their own qualifications then that is a matter for which the accountable officer (Ms Sutton in this case) is fully responsible. I strongly believe that to do so is to redefine the principles of the NHS for the locality which they serve. If this involves withdrawing rights under the NHS Constitution, they are in breach of the terms of Section 1 of the Health Act 2009.

Tomorrow afternoon is Oral Questions to the Secretary of State for Health, and the 8th on the list is:

Mark Pawsey (Rugby): What guidance his Department issues on the use by GP surgeries of premium rate telephone numbers.
(65113)

Members might wish to contact their MP with a view to asking a follow-up question.

The DH has said many times in written and verbal exchanges that "... having regard to the arrangement as a whole, persons will not pay more to make relevant calls than they would to make equivalent calls to a geographical number". I suspect that we might be hearing these words again, in direct response to the above question.

However, some PCTs are saying that the regulations are only applicable to certain customers of a certain telephone provider or exclusive of patients ringing from mobile phones. It will be good to get some sort of statement to the effect that it applies to all patients ringing from all landlines and all mobiles.

I have drawn up the following question:

Some PCTs say that they consider that their GPs are in compliance with the GMS Contract where patients subscribed to only a certain tariff with a certain telephone provider pay no more than a geographic call. Can the Minister/Secretary of State confirm that the "arrangement as a whole" includes patients who are customers of all telephone providers and applies irrespective of whether they call from a fixed line or mobile phone? And will he write to PCTs to clarify that this is the case?"

The Health Question and follow-up questions yesterday have been published in Hansard:

http://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2011-07-12a.149.4

GPs (Premium Rate Telephone Numbers)

8. Mark Pawsey (Rugby) (Con): What guidance his Department issues on the use by GP surgeries of premium rate telephone numbers. [65113]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (Anne Milton): The Department has amended the general medical services regulations to prohibit GP practices from using telephone numbers that charge patients more than the equivalent cost of calling a geographical number to contact the NHS. Since April this year, GPs have not been allowed to use a number that charges patients more than the cost of an equivalent geographical call.

Mark Pawsey: I have been contacted by a constituent who is a patient at a practice in Rugby that uses telephony based on 084 numbers. My constituent is concerned about the additional charges incurred by patients when contacting the surgery by phone, particularly by mobile phone. Will the Minister update the House on the work of the Department in ensuring that GP surgeries do not use such numbers unnecessarily?

Anne Milton: I thank my hon. Friend for raising this matter. I understand that five GP surgeries in NHS Warwickshire use 084 numbers, and that the primary care trust has been assured that patients using those numbers are not charged more than the cost of using an equivalent local number. It is absolutely clear that there is no distinction between landlines, mobiles or payphones. The directions are very clear that patients should not expect to be charged any more.

Mr Andrew Love (Edmonton) (Lab/Co-op): I, similarly, have three GP practices that use those telephone numbers. I have made extensive contact with my local PCT about this, but it did not seem to know what to do. Can the Minister assure us that the clear advice she is giving here today will be distributed around the health service, so that we can put an end to this?

Anne Milton: The Department is very clear, and the general medical services contract makes it very clear, that GPs are not allowed to charge more. There are a number of options open to GPs who already have such telephone contracts, such as calling patients back, altering the contract arrangements or, indeed, paying the costs themselves.

Barbara wrote on Jul 13^th, 2011 at 1:22pm:

It is perhaps worth re-reading Ms Milton's statement:

"I understand that five GP surgeries in NHS Warwickshire use 084 numbers, and that the primary care trust has been assured that patients using those numbers are not charged more than the cost of using an equivalent local number."

It simply says that the PCT has been assured that patients will not pay more. It makes no mention whether this assurance has been accepted or not.

Then follows the confirmation that the regulations apply to all patients, irrespective of mode of telecommunications is used.