Premium-rate calls to GPs face the axe
Government to crack down after Mail campaign
FAMILY doctors face a ban on using premiumrate phone numbers to charge patients.
In a victory for a longrunning Scottish Daily Mail campaign, ministers have told GPs that nobody ‘should have to pay more than the standard cost of a local call when contacting their practice’.
Thousands of patients are still being hit by high-rate call charges, in defiance of government guidance issued in 2011 following a Mail exposé. Some practices use 084 numbers, which cost up to 44p a minute.
Mobile phone users pay the most and many households no longer use traditional landlines.
The proposed crackdown has been widely welcomed by campaigners, although doctors have raised concerns that surgeries could face financial penalties if they are forced to suddenly cancel deals with providers.
The Scottish Government is now considering a number of alternatives, which include:
A call-handling system with operators who put patients through to their local practice.
A ‘ring back’ service if the line is engaged or a patient is waiting in a queue.
The use of 030 numbers which operators are required to charge local rates for.
Forcing every GP to use geographical numbers such as 0131 and 0141.
When the Mail first uncovered the scandal, an estimated 290,000 patients – more than one in 20 of the five million Scots registered with a doctor – were being forced to use premium-rate numbers.
The deal al l owed f amily doctors to collect a portion of the charge paid by sick callers, with some patients hit with bills of up to £15 a month.
A number of practices entered into lengthy contracts with 084 providers. Under this system, when someone reaches the telephone network, the number dialled is ‘ translated’ to a geographic number to deliver the call to its destination. The ‘translation’ costs are generally higher for 084 than for other number ranges, particularly on the mobile network, as they allow practices to have queuing systems and automated appointment bookings.
Health Secretary Shona Robison said: ‘This Government’s policy has always been to ensure that patients are not financially disadvantaged when contacting their GP practice. The principal purpose of this consultation is to ensure that the regulatory framework regarding the use of telephone numbers by GP practices remains fit for purpose.’
The government consultation asks respondents if they therefore support an ‘outright ban on 084 numbers’.
In response, the Scottish Health Council said: ‘Given the increased use of mobile telephones and tendency in some cases for people to use them more than traditional landlines, the Scottish Health Council would support an outright ban on 084 numbers for contacting any health related organisation because of the cost involved.’
The intermediary group for health and social care organisations, Alliance, added: ‘ The proportion of residents living in mobile only homes is higher among lower socio- economic groups. The Alliance would support an outright ban on the use of 084 numbers for contacting GP practices.’
The Scottish Disability Equality Forum also agreed with the proposed ban, adding: ‘Many disabled people with mobile contracts are not always or have been made aware of telephone charges and may not know it is costing them to contact their GP, which is a lifeline to them.’
But a submission to the Government from the British Medical Association (BMA) states: ‘We could be supportive of a ban on 084 numbers so long as the ban was prospective and didn’t require GP practices under contract for a 084 number to incur early termination penalties.’
‘Outright ban on
084 numbers’