This lady is under the impression that phone charges for calling her back  have been added to her phone bill by the NHS at 0844 rates. Which of course is not technically  possible.

"I AM under the care of a consultant specialist at my local hospital for a chronic condition. Whenever it was time for my review visit, I used to get a letter automatically from the hospital with an appointment.

Not any more. This time I received a letter simply telling me that if I didn’t contact the hospital within a specified time, I would be referred back to my GP who would have to re-refer me to the consultant. The tone of the letter was such as if I was somehow at fault. The number to ring was a 0844 number, for which my telephone provider charges 28 pence plus VAT.

I contacted the appointments desk, which was very busy, but to save time I was offered a call-back option, which was promised to happen within one hour. After two hours (and no call) I had to go out on an urgent matter. The appointments desk rang in the meantime, leaving a message on my voicemail stating the time of call and that I needed to repeat the process. This I did, received the call-back within the hour this time and booked the appointment.

A few days ago, I received my phone bill. To my utter amazement, there were four calls listed with the hospital’s 0844 number. It transpired that the call-back is charged to the person who is called! I am writing this to alert other unsuspecting patients to this fact.

The regular review of my condition has cost me £1.32 in telephone calls. I wonder how much money the hospitals make out of this scam!


http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/debate/letters/beware-the-cost-of-call-backs...

SilentCallsVictim wrote on Sep 15^th, 2013 at 12:04pm:


Good Afternoon SCV, indeed it does... it also provides a feedback area here, perhaps if a large number of people where to contact them via that option it would leave them with no choice but to review the situation?   I also believe NHS England might wish to be informed of it.

They appear to support a "two tier" contact method!

I know someone who maybe covered by that area, I will ask more info from him.

Mid Yorks provides a complaint service as well here this appears to be via an e-mail address or physical address.

Again they appear to provide a "two tier" service!

SilentCallsVictim wrote on Sep 15^th, 2013 at 6:14pm:



SCV my apologies, the use of the term "two tier" by me was merely to indicate that they provide 2 distinct numbers as listed on their website.

What therefore interests me, and which has not yet been fully established is: Do you just print the 0844 number on their letters asking patients to call in, or do they print both?

If both are printed, are the call costs correctly explained?

Whilst we can still work on them removing the 084 number altogether, in the mean time it would be useful to find this information out.

The Call Cost information on the Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust website provides an interesting example of misrepresentation of call costs. The figures are out of date, incomplete and inaccurate.

It presents the BT Unlimited Weekends call plan as if this were some form of "standard".

In fact, it is a very special option intended for the few who do not normally make calls from their landline during the week, or do so using another call service provider. The suggestion that the out-of-plan penalty charge which would be incurred by these people to contact the hospital on a geographic number under the terms of this plan is of any general interest or relevance demonstrates the ridiculous depths that some are prepared to plumb in an attempt to justify improper exploitation of patients.

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N.B. The explanation of the "two tier NHS" point was intended as clarification, not as criticism.