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NHS: Telephone Services

Health written question – answered at on 29 October 2012.

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Photo of John Redwood John Redwood Conservative, Wokingham

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his policy is on NHS service providers charging patients through the use of 0845 telephone numbers.

Photo of Daniel Poulter Daniel Poulter The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health

The Department issued guidance and directions to national health service bodies in December 2009 on the cost of telephone calls, which prohibit the use of telephone numbers that charge the patient more than the equivalent cost of calling a geographical number to contact the NHS. It is currently the responsibility of primary care trusts to ensure that local practices are compliant with the directions and guidance.

The Department published further guidance as clarification on 23 February 2012, setting out the roles and responsibilities of the Department, primary care trusts, and NHS bodies, with relation to the guidance.

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David Hickson - fair telecoms campaign
Posted on 30 Oct 2012 11:16 am (Report this annotation)

Given the telephone tariffs which presently apply to the whole of UK, the prohibition effectively covers all 084 numbers (0845, 0844 and 0843). The only non-geographic range which can be used is 03.
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It is disappointing to read that Dr Poulter is apparently content for local primary care trusts and other NHS bodies to fail to discharge their responsibilities in what we understand to be a National Health Service.

Local matters are best dealt with locally, however the cost of telephone calls are based on national tariffs (apart from some landlines in Hull). The right to access NHS services without incurring a charge, selected and imposed (albeit indirectly) by the particular provider, applies throughout England (and indeed the whole of the UK).
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This answer is seriously misleading on a narrow point.

What are formally known as providers of General and Primary Medical Services, referred to as local General Practices (GPs), are not covered simply by “guidance and directions”.

The form of the Directions to NHS bodies were reflected in revisions to the terms of the legally enforceable contract between each GP and the respective Primary Care Trust. Following approval by parliament, these revisions took effect from 1 April 2010.
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Many PCTs are failing to enforce these terms, either on existing users, who had until 1 April 2011 to change their arrangements, or on those who are continuing to breach the prohibition anew - see http://tiny.cc/FTMR_TwoNewCases.

Some PCTs (including Kent and Medway, Sussex, Surrey and North London, to my knowledge) are encouraging a further breach of the principles of the NHS. They are not only permitting numbers that cost more to be used, they are allowing, recommending or requiring them to be used in parallel with a geographic number. This introduces the oxymoronic concept of a two-tier NHS, contrary to the will of parliament - see http://tiny.cc/TwoTierNHS.

Dr Poulter's readiness to simply refer to this being outside the scope of his departmental responsibilities could be taken as a readiness to look on as he allows our National Health Service to fall apart. Unless that is his “policy”, action is required.