HOSPITAL PATIENTS IN PHONE RIP-OFF SCANDAL
HOSPITALS were accused of treating patients as “cash cows” yesterday as details emerged of “rip-off” 50p a minute bedside phone charges.
Worried relatives calling sick and dying loved ones face the “extortionate” bill, despite a promised clampdown.
Hospedia, which runs bedside TV and phone services in NHS hospitals and made £21million last year, makes people call using costly 070 numbers.
Callers are also forced to listen to a lengthy recorded message of about 70 seconds, which racks up charges before they are even connected.
Critics last night slated hospitals over the fees.
Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron said: “These charges are a total rip-off. Hospitals and these businesses are treating the sick as cash cows.
“From hospital parking charges, TV packages to making people call expensive phone services, it seems like they try to eke out every bit of cash they can. It’s frankly unacceptable.”
Fail
Liz McAnulty, of the Patients Association, said: “Phone contact can be hugely valuable and reassuring to people in hospital and their loved ones at home. Any facility to provide this must offer a high-quality service at a fair price, but Hospedia’s service appears to fail these tests badly.
“It is unacceptable for people calling someone in hospital to be charged heavily for 70 seconds before they even get through.”
Lynda Thomas, chief executive of Macmillan Cancer Support, called the cost “shocking”.
She added: “When you are having cancer treatment, getting a call from a relative can make a huge difference as you can share your worries, seek reassurance, or just hear their voice.
“But if relatives have to pay extortionate amounts to make these calls they may not call, cut it short, or shoulder the burden of these high charges, at a time when the whole family may be struggling financially.”
Hospedia manages TV and bedside phone services in 150 NHS hospitals, installing services for free in return for keeping the money charged to patients and relatives.
In 2014, the firm said it planned to phase out the use of 070 numbers, but this has not happened.
Ofcom reviewed the costs in 2006 following complaints from users and recommended a “substantial” reduction in incoming call charges.
A spokeswoman for Ofcom said it wished to hear from customers as part of its monitoring. She added: “We are concerned about the cost of making calls to and from hospital patients.”
Hospedia has refused to answer several questions, including how much money it makes from 070 numbers and why it still uses them.
A spokesman said: “We believe we offer an excellent service, which would not be provided at all if it weren’t for us taking on the investment and on-going management and support costs.”
A spokeswoman for the Department of Health said: “Suppliers should always put patients first in the way they provide services.
“Staying connected to friends and family while in hospital is crucial and we expect local hospitals to tackle anything that prevents this.”
GOING into hospital can be an expensive business these days. There are the parking charges which, despite Government promises and this newspaper’s crusade, are in too many cases still being charged at an extortionate rate.
But it does not stop there. Now the staggering cost of using bedside TV and phone services has also been revealed.
Hospitals increasingly resemble aggressive businesses, constantly thinking up new ways to wring money out of patients and visitors alike. It is shameful that the NHS insists on treating patients and their loved ones as cash cows.
Perhaps instead of forcing people to pay a fortune for simple pleasures such as watching television or using the telephone, NHS bosses might like to think about cutting waste, bureaucracy and the inflated salaries of unnecessary backroom staff.