Patient Line is a disgusting disgrace Blog Discussion

System

Sluggy, sorry to hear of your husbands illness.:(

melaniec_2

Its not just the phone calls that are outragious its the cost of watching TV in some hospitals if you turn it off you loose your money for the day and it doesn't roll over to the next day. My sister (a single parent) spent 2 weeks in hospital on complete bed rest it was crippling her.

Melanie

MarkyMarkD

There's two very distinct trains of thought here.

The rational one is that Patientline has installed some very expensive equipment, and it is failing to make enough money from its admittedly very expensive charges to even cover its costs, let alone make any profit. Patientline has been investigated and NOT made to reduce its charges because it's not profiteering.

The irrational one is "the poor sick people are getting ripped off". What people on this site have to learn to appreciate (and some people are incredibly incapable of doing this) is that everything in life isn't free and money doesn't grow on trees. As others have posted, in times gone by nobody even thought of the idea of having a personal phone, TV and radio by your bed. Just because nearly everyone has a mobile phone today doesn't mean that cheap calls via what is deemed to be a safe infrastructure is a right - it's not!

I've been in hospital and used Patientline, in a limited way, to make (not particularly expensive) outgoing calls and to receive short incoming calls. I've also paid to watch a bit of Patientline TV. As I couldn't move from my bed, a shared TV or a public phone wouldn't have been much use to me - would I rather have had the choice of no TV and no phone, or expensive TV and expensive phone? Clearly the latter. A poor choice is better than no choice at all.

The idea that public money should have been used to provide bed-side TV and telephony for patients is, IMHO, ridiculous. The NHS sucks up huge proportions of public expenditure as it is, and shouldn't be used to pay for what are, at the end of the day, luxuries for patients.

utilitybroker

Another major area of concern with this service is if you have Friends/Relatives abroad who wont to contact you.

International operators are not obliged to enable the 070 number range, and some do not have agreements with British Telecom, in these instances calls will not be connected.

Picasso2_2

This item from the BBC is food for thought. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3932563.stm
The mobile phone issue seems to be annoying interruptions rather than 'every heart monitor in the building going off' panic. Some hospitals are giving guide lines for use in certain areas, eg 'staff coffee areas but not staff restaurant'.

Adrift

There was an article in the Lancet about mobile phone use in hospitals. Researchers from Imperial College London were calling for a review of the ban. I remembered the article and searched for it. It appears that the case for being able to use mobile phones in hospital has been conveniently buried in the last few years. I don't suppose it has anything to do with Patientline? Hmm?

http://www.imperial.ac.uk/P4053.htm

Phonix

When my father was terminally ill with cancer he had to spend about a month in hospital in Exeter. During that time my family were subject to these rates and I vented my anger accordingly, a little on this site too.

From then on he was moved to a cottage hospital in his local town. They really looked after him and thankfully mobiles were allowed in the hospital. The last time I spoke to my father was on his mobile, I'm certain I would have talked to him alot less if I'd have had to pay these charges.

However, the reality is Patientline know people will pay these charges because they do not place a price on talking to their ill relatives, especially if they are dying. No matter what you say about investment opportunities, I do not blame Patientline. The blame falls directly on the government!

Those arguing that tax money was not spent on this service and private investment was used instead, because it would have meant less money on operations, reducing waiting lists etc are simply missing the point.

There are plenty of non-lifethreatening services the government can cut to pay for a pohone system in their hospitals. What many people forget is that a phone is as much a way of maintaining someones health as is providing enough drugs and operations.

Providing a phone IS meeting somenoes health needs as much as is providing them with a clean bed.

The last thing a person needs in hospital is to worry about how much it's costing their relatives to ring them, and be guilty and sad about . This is exactly how my father felt when he was dying and it had a detrimental effect on his health. Consequently it can be argued the hospital were not providing him with proper care.

also remember it's a personal number so try https://www.call1899.co.uk https://www.call18866.co.uk https://www.call18185.co.uk to reduce the cost to about 15p/min.

Phonix

A few years ago a relative was in hospital and you could just call the nurses station and they'd drag them out of bed to come over to the phone.

We tried that but unforatunately my father was in such a state he refused to get out of bed to go to the phone. He had seriously lost it.

klondyke

I have been in hospital recently. There was no problem with using a mobile on the ward apart from one's own ability to reach it, depending on mobility(!) etc. (Many patients can't reach or manipulate the handset on the Patientline thingie either.)

Several other posters have mentioned the nuisance factor (rather than danger) of mobiles - but that is just as bad using any phone, including Patientline. Those on our ward (dunno if all the same) had a very loud ring, and for reasons unknown, while peeps would try to speak quietly on a mobile, there was no effort to do so on Patientline!

One of the main problems I noticed was that (although info is available on pricing, as previous poster mentioned) very few people take it in to start with and dish out their 'direct line' to all their relatives and friends, who don't realise the cost either until too late. Most of us old hands tried to warn new patients before they fell into the trap.

There was also a 'ward mobile'. When possible if a relative rang its number, a staff member, if time permitted, would bring phone to patient; otherwise take a message.

Mr K and I had a system whereby I would text him with a saved message when docs had done rounds, so he could then ring ward to enquire after my health and get the lowdown without my having to make expensive mobile calls or attempt long texts!

System

When i was in hospital i was in a ward next to the nurses staff room. More often than not the door was wide open and as i wandered too and fro from the toilet and back i very often saw the nurses using mobile phones in there. At first it was too much hastle to ask for the mobile phone trolley to be bought to my bed and with drains hanging out of my neck i sure as heck couldnt get it myself so i started using my own mobi. Granted i didnt make calls on it, but i sent a fair few texts..... after all, i couldnt see the harm. If the nurses could use theirs just a few feet away from me, i couldnt see why i couldnt send a few texts.

I was aware of the risks though, if my phone went missing whilst i was in surgery, i couldnt really moan could i? After all, your not supposed to take in valuables in case they go missing.