Rip Off hospital phone

Claire_Jones_3

Thanks counting pennies, my hormonal brain didn't think of that!!

Claire_Jones_3

just received e-mail to say credit will be done to my credit card today

RadoJo

The worst thing is that, at my local hospital at least, the hospital don't see any of the profits from the extortionate calls!! They outsource the job of providing phones to an external company, and the cost of the calls is not factored in, so the hospital don't even benefit!

Counting_Pennies_2

RadoJo wrote: »

The worst thing is that, at my local hospital at least, the hospital don't see any of the profits from the extortionate calls!! They outsource the job of providing phones to an external company, and the cost of the calls is not factored in, so the hospital don't even benefit!

Do you know what is even crazier, the company who runs this has had such an enormous outlay getting the systems into the hospitals that I gather from a reliable source they don't even make a profit out of it. How crazy is that!

dougoutcanoe_2

My wife is in hospital for an extended stay. In addition to the limited visiting times, I thought that the PATIENTLINE 'phone system would be useful for myself, friends and relatives to keep in touch. How wrong can one be?

PATIENTLINE charge PREMIUM RATES for calls to the patient. I emailed the company to find out why they charged such a high rate and if the charges included the one minute, ten seconds of their slow and lengthy message.

Here is my email:
Your telephone charges for callers to the patient seem to be excessively high, why is this so?
From connecting to patientline why do we have to suffer at least 1 minute and 10 seconds of: first 27 seconds about charges and 43 seconds of other mainly unnecessary talking and pauses? Do your premium rate charges apply from first connection or when you finally connect to the patient? If it is the former this is most disagreeable and profiteering.
Your monopoly for telephone contact to a patient should not be abused.

The answer I received was prompt but not helpful. The reply made me see RED.

The charging for the call starts from the time that you are connected to the system.

While I understand your concerns about the cost of the call, I should calrify that this is a private phone system and therefore is charged at a premium rate. It is simply because of this that we remind callers of the cost each time they call. In trials where we have omitted the message we have received a high volume of complaints that we were not telling callers how much they were spending per minute. The message is lengthy because we have to take account of the fact that many customers may have English as a second language or have communication difficulties.

I should add that a patient calling from the bedside to a BT landline is only charged 10p per minute (although charges will vary for international calls and calls using other networks).

Thank you for using Patientline.

Angela McIntosh
Consumer Relations Officer
Patietnline UK Ltd

I didn't like the tone of this reply.

Firstly, users calling a patient pay 57p (peak time) for listening to a lengthy and drawn out message. The first 27 seconds tells the user that PATIENTLINE are taking 49p per minute at peak times and only 39p per minute off peak WHOOPEE. It then takes the system another 43 seconds to mispronounce the patients name and tell you to 'phone the helpline if this is not the person you wish to speak to, etc. etc.

Next, the tone of, "...this is a private phone system..." indicates an underlying statement of, "So, we can charge as much as we like."

And on, using the excuse of, "...English as second language or have communication difficulties." is such a weak excuse that shows further contempt for their customers. Language or communication problems should have their own helpline.

I feel that PATIENTLINE must be linked to the dodgy PREMIUM RATE numbers that rip off people everyday.

With all the technology available today, PATIENTLINE could offer to start charging only when connected to the patient or their answer 'phone. If they kept their excessive charges at least it was being paid to speak to a loved one, rather than a time-waster message.

That's it I've had my rant let's hope people pressure will resolve this matter.

LondonDiva

A colleague of mine's recently had to ban mobiles in a ward because patients were filming other patients without their knowledge or consent.

The some of the people in the ward suffer from quite nasty stuff that amuses some unplesant people. The staff have limited capacity to monitor that patients are not selfishly abusing a priviledge by invading someone else's privacy and the last things the nurses want to do is to be running round with phones for patients.

It's a tricky one, especially with the costs of actually setting up and maintaining a patient phone system.

Morglin

Consultants have said the mobile phones have no effect on equipment, other than in ITU.

We take phones in - no way are we getting ripped off by Patientline.:mad:

But, in order that other patients are not disturbed, we always keep the phones on "silent/vibrate", so that they're not ringing a lot.

And, of course, never use the camera facility.

Lin

buxtonrabbitgreen

My sister was recintly stuck in hospital for 3 weeks. And it is so expensive. She never has any money, she is on benefits. I put her £10 credit on so she could watch tv. I just phoned the ward a couple of times to see how she was.

margaretclare

DH and I have been in hospital a lot over the last few years, and there is no way we could have survived without our mobile phones. He used to sneak into the loo to use his, just being able to say 'good night' and 'good morning' helped keep us sane.

I was in 2 years ago as now and the TV monitors, intrusive blue-and-orange things, were by every bed. We got to watch someone else's TV (which they weren't watching!) whether we wanted to or not. Some people apparently can't live without their regular fix of soaps, game-shows, reality, you name it. Me, I was busy reading.

I was in for a couple of days 4 weeks ago. Again, mobile phone was a godsend. TV monitors - the screen on the monitor opposite flickers all night. Friday morning surgery, Saturday all tubes out, drip down, up to shower, dressed, and I spent the rest of the day listening to my iPod. Sunday morning - the moment someone said 'you can go home' I was phoning DH and he came for me.

Mobile phones are so cheap now, you can have pay-as-you-go, you can still get a basic one without the need to take photographs on it!

It's a money-making scam, both the TV and the phones. I don't subscribe to it.

Margaret

Shona_3

There are a few very specialised circumstances where mobile are a problem. I worked with a consultant who had a beautiful heart trace which showed a patient who was on external pacing ( this means using a defibrillator as a temporary pace maker, patient is hooked up to the defibrillator and it gives a small timed charge through the skin 60 times a minute to keep the heart going steady until they can be taken to theatre for a pace maker).
The consultant was bending over the patient to examine him when his (the consultants) phone rang in his shirt pocket. The external pacer stopped working! The phone was obviously switched off immediately and the patient was fine but he keeps the print out to show young doctors....

On most wards, not coronary care or ITU they mainly cause a nuisance with noise, photos etc. If they could be used in private rooms or just in the communal areas that would be a god send to most people.