Why does it cost 50p a minute to call a hospital patient?
We ask the firm behind the service why it costs so much to call someone laid up in a hospital bed
RELATIVES contacting hospital patients on ward telephones are paying “rip-off ” 50p-a-minute charges – despite the operator promising to phase out premium 070 numbers three years ago.
Hospedia is in charge of bedside telephones and entertainment in 150 NHS Hospitals.
Friends and relatives calling their loved ones have to use premium 070 phone numbers if they want to call their bedside phone. These calls can cost 50p per minute or more, although the charges vary from hospital to hospital.
Hospedia’s phones are in wards managed by Newcastle Hospitals NHS Trust, Northumbria Healthcare NHS Trust, County Durham and Darlington NHS Trust, City Hospitals Sunderland NHS Trust, Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust and South Tyneside NHS Trust.
Callers are forced to sit through a 70-second recorded message before they can speak with their loved ones.
Much of the message contains information already known to the caller, including the fact that their friend or relative is in hospital. The customer is even told to be “patient”.
Last year, Hospedia made £21.2m in revenue.
WHY IS HOSPEDIA USING 070 NUMBERS?
Hospedia refused to say how much money it makes from 070 numbers or why it still uses them.
A spokesman said: “Ofcom granted us use of the 070 number range to enable every bedside unit to have its own unique telephone number so that friends and relatives can call patients directly, alleviating pressure on nursing staff having to field calls. “The patient’s bedside phone number is unique to each patient’s account and can follow them around the hospital if they are moved.” He said Hospedia offers free TV on children’s wards, while channels 1 to 5 are free for four hours in the morning on adult wards. He said outbound calls to landlines are also free. But information on Newcastle Hospital Trust’s website says outbound calls are free only if the patient buys an “entertain- ment package”. An 18-hour “Value Bundle” with 20 TV channels, 17 films, internet and “free outgoing calls” costs
£7.50. The spokesman added: “We believe we offer an excellent service, which would not be provided at all if it wasn’t for us taking on the investment and ongoing management and support costs.
“Patients can choose to pay for our services, beyond those we offer for free, or not.”
WHY DO CUSTOMERS HAVE TO SIT THROUGH AND PAY FOR A 70-SECOND RECORDED MESSAGE?
Ofcom recommended a “substantial” reduction in incoming call charges back in 2006. The Department of Health (DoH) was urged to review the system and the financial burden it placed on patients’ friends and family.
The DoH agreed to consider an option for callers to skip the 70-second recorded messages, but a decade on, it is still being used. In 2007, the DoH said phone decisions should be made by individual hospitals.
CAN’T PATIENTS USE MOBILE PHONES ON WARDS?
In 2009, the DoH told the NHS that patients and visitors should be allowed to use mobile phones in hospitals, as long as using them doesn’t affect safety, privacy or the operation of medical equipment.
Many hospitals – including the RVI, Freeman and Great North Children’s Hospital – ban the use of mobiles on wards. So if you want to contact a friend or relative while they’re in their hospital bed, then you’d have to call their bedside phone. While mobiles can be used in other areas of the hospital, many patients are bed-bound, while the elderly are less likely to have a mobile phone at all.
WHAT IS THE GENERAL CONSENSUS OF HOSPEDIA?
Critics say the firm is failing patients by ripping off their families.
Liz McAnulty, chairwoman 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.”
Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, said: “Since older people typically have longer hospital stays and do not always have access to a mobile phone, they and their families are particularly likely to be impacted.”
Lynda Thomas, chief executive for Macmillan Cancer Support, said the cost of calls was “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.”
Lib Dem leader Tim Farron said the firm is treating the sick as “cash cows” by charging “rip-off” prices for TV and phone services.
WILL OFCOM OR THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH ACT?
A spokeswoman for Ofcom said it was “concerned” about 070 costs and said Hospedia is not forced to use 070 numbers.
She added: “We are concerned about the cost of making calls to and from hospital patients.
“Following an investigation into this, we referred our findings to the Department of Health, which has since changed its rules on mobile phone use in hospitals.
“We are glad that more patients now have the option of using their mobiles when in hospital, but arrangements for bedside phones are managed by the NHS.
“We want to ensure adequate safeguards for consumers so we are examining the use of 070 number ranges, amid concerns that the cost of calling these numbers can be confusing.
“We welcome evidence of any harm so we can further protect consumers.”
A spokeswoman for the DoH 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.”