Urgh. GP surgery having a laugh!

flossy_splodge

pmduk wrote: »

Mamamoo perhaps you should contact your local paper? They like this sort of story

Or, given the area you are in, BBC Coventry and Warwickshire or BBC WM.
I KNOW the former would take this up if you contact the Annie Oathen programme (producer's name is Amrit) as they are good at helping the individual against the system
I should initially contact them via their web site so they can ring you back as their contact number is an 0845 number! Truly :rotfl:
Good luck with the birth.:T

flossy_splodge

I promised I'd post any response I got, so here goes.
Firstly in the interests of fair play here is the email I sent to them:
"Can you please confirm information I have been given that Doctor's surgeries were told to desist using 0844 numbers for their surgeries?
If this is indeed so, what is your advised course of action for a surgery that does not comply?
Many thanks."

Then the reply I got this morning is:
Dear

With reference to your email enquiry, I can confirm the following with regards to the 0844 telephone numbers:-

• The 0844 telephone numbers are set at a local rate tariff e.g. they are no more expensive than an ordinary landline call.
• NHS Coventry monitor the GP surgeries contractual obligation to ensure that their telephone numbers are charged at a local rate (these include the 0844 numbers)
• Anyone using a mobile phone will still continue to be charged at the tariff rate set on their contract – therefore the choice as to what method a person chooses to make a telephone call is down to their own discretion.

Kindest regards,

Debbie.

Debbie Moore
Customer Service & Experience Manager
Nursing Directorate
NHS Coventry
Christchurch House

Tel: (024) 7624 6002

So my response to that was:

Thank you for your reply.

I will be posting it on the internet forum that caused my enquiry because sadly it is as fatuous and uncaring as I expected it to be.

Bullet point 1. YES they ARE more expensive than a normal landline call as many people have packages that give free calls to geographic numbers but NOT to 0844/0845 numbers so your answer is factually incorrect.

Bullet point 2. HOW? EXACTLY what form does this monitoring take? I doubt it is any more effective and caring than your response to me has been.

Bullet point 3. You clearly do not understand how life is for many many thousands of ordinary people in this country. It is VERY expensive to run a landline and that is the reason so many ONLY have a mobile. 0844/0845 numbers are rarely, if ever, included at standard tariffs for these people or do you at the PCT think these folk are less deserving of being able to contact medical services?

Your response shocks me and I shall now publish it and take it further as clearly understanding, compassion and empathy are not a factor of the NHS that YOU belong to.

Yours in disgust.

I shall be interested if they bother to reply further. I WILL pursue this as it is so clearly an unequal system and just plain wrong. Wish me luck.:eek:

kazzah60

Oh Flossy-splodge
JUST the sort of response I would expect from Coventry PCT - in my experience they do not care one jot about any of their patients
sadly I doubt they will even respond to your reply to them
karen ( in coventry) !

flossy_splodge

kazzah60 wrote: »

Oh Flossy-splodge
JUST the sort of response I would expect from Coventry PCT - in my experience they do not care one jot about any of their patients
sadly I doubt they will even respond to your reply to them
karen ( in coventry) !

What a sad indictment.
I am so sorry you feel like this and truly hope they will prove us both wrong.
maybe a bit of solidarity would help?
Thanks for your input.:o

marywooyeah

Mamamoo I can't believe how badly you've been treated - get on with that letter before the baby comes! In my experience though (when I complained about a very serious incident where I was treated appallingly at a hospital) they have a tendency to try and fob people off so keep going!

and good luck for your induction tommorow! wishing you a safe delivery x

BlueAngelCV

Did you actually send that email? I'm sorry but their response was not "fatuous and uncaring". You may not agree with what they said, and indeed you do have a good point about the price of the call but there was nothing wrong with their email whilst yours was extremely rude.

If you had given a polite response explaining why you do not consider their position to be acceptable then maybe they would have provided you with further details as to why and what they would suggest you should do to change it (I would imagine that most NHS staff actually want to make people's lives easier but they are stuck with the system just as much as you are). As it is I expect they have just deleted your email on the basis that there is no reason for them to try and help you when you are so rude to them.

An attitude such as that would not be acceptable in person and I imagine that it would get you thrown out of your GP surgery (or any store) so why should it be acceptable by email.

pmduk

I would forward the PCT's reply to your MP. Not everybody is on the salaries that PCT staff receive.

JohalaReewi

flossy_splodge wrote: »

• The 0844 telephone numbers are set at a local rate tariff e.g. they are no more expensive than an ordinary landline call.

The cost of a Local call for residential callers (according to latest BT price list) is 4.032 ppm (inc VAT)

http://www.bt.com/pricing/current/Call_Charges_boo/0016_d0e5.htm#0016-d0e5

The cost of a call to 0844 varies. You can find the charge rate here
http://www.bt.com/pricing/current/Call_Charges_boo/1632_d0e5.htm#1632-d0e5 and use that to lookup the ppm using the first link.

So for 0844 477 8627 that will be rate g6 = 5.1ppm (inc VAT) so it is more expensive than a local call at BT rates.

giraffe69

An attitude such as that would not be acceptable in person and I imagine that it would get you thrown out of your GP surgery (or any store) so why should it be acceptable by email.

I see. If you don't like what a person says or the way he says it then you "throw him or her out of the surgery" The answer given was an attempt to fob the writer off. It was factually wrong as noted above. I'd look forward to soemone seeking to throw me out of a store in such circumstances. They might need the police to succeed. Sadly in the case of a doctor's surgery they are quite likely to abuse and overstep their authority and seek to remove you from their list unless you are suitably compliant.

If, by the way, there was no financial advantage to an 0844 number do you imagine the surgery would have one? I don't. It is a transparent attempt to extract money from patients.

PinkLipgloss

I find this kind of treatment from GP surgery staff appalling.

My Grandfather was ill last year and tried to call his local surgery for hours over a period of a couple of days and it was constantly engaged. He decided to visit the surgery in person, explained his difficulties in getting through on the telephone and was told, "I can't give you an appointment here go outside and call me from the car park and I'll see what I can do." :eek:

Disgraceful.