GPs were banned from entering into new contracts with 084 numbers in April 2010, but many more continued to sign up for another three years. The last were in April 2013. The contract is usually five or seven years long.

The government recently stated that they will do little more than monitor those still using 084 numbers to ensure they do not renew those contracts as they come to an end over the next five years.
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2015-06-30.5038.h

Using details published on practice websites, the list of non-compliant GPs in England can be found here:
http://www.fairtelecoms.org.uk/uploads/1/1/4/5/11456053/nhs_england_gp_websites....
The danger is that other practices have removed the 084 number from their website, but it remains operational and it continues to be called by patients who have always rung that number.

There are a number of GP practices in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland still using 084 or 087 numbers as well as NHS Direct Wales on 0845 4647 and various hospital or ambulance trusts and a number of NHS dentists. There are also a few 'specialist' NHS helplines, e.g. quit smoking, etc, still using various 084 and 087 numbers.

All over the internet are thousands of calls to 'ban all 084 and 087 numbers'. A five-pronged approach to the various issues, by DoH, BIS, CO, FCA and Ofcom has eventually led us almost to that situation.

GP practices and NHS bodies, post-sales helplines used by retailers, traders and passenger transport companies, helplines used by government departments, their agencies and 'other bodies across the public sector landscape' and phone lines used by financial services including banks and insurance companies must use numbers starting 01, 02, 03 or 080. Ofcom requires that all remaining usage of 084, 087 or 09 numbers (such as by chargeable services that are paid for as the call is being made, and by sales and enquiry lines used by companies that charge callers extra when they phone up to buy something) must be accompanied by a declaration of the applicable Service Charge.

It is now clear that all 084, 087 and 09 numbers are premium rate. The premium is the Service Charge paid to the benefit of the called party and their telecoms provider. It is also clear that these numbers should be used only to provide a chargeable service paid for as the call is being made.

An attempt on an outright ban on all 084 and 087 numbers and immediate closure of these number ranges would have seen Ofcom in court and losing the case. Instead, this has had to be done in measured and well-reasoned steps. It has also had to involve other regulators. The eventual outcome will be much the same.



International dial-through providers exploited a feature of 084, 087 and 09 call pricing that applied only to calls made from BT landlines (and from landline providers that copied BT's rates even though it made no financial sense to do so).

For more than a decade, an obscure Ofcom regulation called the 'NTS Retail Condition' required BT to make zero margin on call origination to 084, 087, 09 and 118 numbers. This meant that of whatever you paid BT for the call, almost all of it was passed on and paid to the benefit of the terminating telecoms provider. In the case of international dial-through providers, they used this revenue to pay the cost of forwarding the call to an international destination. Other landline and mobile provider's retail call prices were not restricted in this way, they were allowed to make margin on call origination. The same call made from another landline would cost at least several pence per minute more than calling from a BT landline and from mobiles would likely cost a lot more, typically 30p to 40p per minute.

The ending of this rule is what has led to BT increasing the call cost. BT can now make margin on originating these calls, but must declare their part of the call cost as their Access Charge - as must all landline and mobile providers. BT's Access Charge is 10.24p per minute. Other landline providers charge between 2p and 12p per minute. Mobile providers charge between 5p and 45p per minute.

Calling an international dial-through provider on an 084, 087 or 09 number from a BT landline is now as expensive as calling from some other landline. For a long time, most international dial-through providers have offered an alternative 020, 03 or 080 number for non-BT landline and all mobile users to call. BT customers now also need to use that option.

The number of NHS GPs using 084 or 087 numbers continues to fall. The number of NHS Trusts using these numbers seems to be static. Whether the number of NHS dentists, NHS opticians and NHS pharmacies using these numbers is going up or down is unknown. A number of other NHS services also continue to use these numbers.

Of the remaining users, a small number have complied with the Ofcom regulations requiring declaration of the Service Charge and thereby draw attention to their ongoing non-compliance with their contracted terms as a provider of NHS services:
http://www.google.com/search?num=100&filter=0&q=site:nhs.uk+%22per+minute%22+%22...

Others continue their usage of 084 and 087 numbers AND fail to declare the Service Charge. NHS Choices draws attention to the premium rate nature of these numbers AND to the failure of the user to properly declare the applicable Service Charge:
http://www.google.com/search?num=100&filter=0&q=%22This+is+a+premium+rate+number...

There are some others who continue their usage of 084 or 087 numbers in parallel with other numbers, but only declare the cheaper number on NHS Choices. Some users of 084 or 087 numbers have removed all of their telephone contact details from NHS Choices. In both cases the non-compliant numbers may continue to be advertised elsewhere.

A small number have ceased their usage of 084 or 087 numbers but have failed to update NHS Choices to reflect that fact.