We reported in November 2013 on a letter sent by NHS England to its Area Teams, to be forwarded to all GPs. (See "Eliminating 084 numbers from GPs in England - 2013/4")

The letter confirmed the overdue need to swiftly comply with the terms of the NHS/GP contract by ceasing use of 084 telephone numbers - a requirement which should have been met by 1 April 2011. It also required advice of the date by which compliance would be achieved.

Despite the fact that 12 months was granted for this work to be done initially (from 1 April 2010 to 1 April 2011), it should only take a few weeks, at the most.

In February 2014 we advised that the work of achieving compliance had not been completed and suggested actions that may have helped to avoid GPs entering their 5th year in breach of contract - on 1 April 2014. (See "NHS GPs in England set to enter 5th year in breach of contract - THIS MUST BE STOPPED".)

We are therefore disappointed to have to report the problem as remaining un-addressed.
See our new briefing -

The number of found cases has fallen from 440 to 419, but this would be fully explained by those who reach the end of an arrangement not renewing. The NHS contractual requirement clearly demanded a switch of number within an arrangement - a possibility explicitly confirmed as being available within the text of the November 2013 letter.

It may also be noted that NHS England has failed to advise the position regarding the timetable for compliance - as demanded to be provided to the Area Teams.

We believe that the fundamental principles of the NHS warrant support and clear enforcement action. We continue to assist NHS England by drawing attention to the issue and have offered such further assistance as may be valuable.

It is our strong view that the firm stand taken by NHS England on the question of delayed compliance with the contractual terms covering use of 084 telephone numbers should prevent practices drifting into a fifth year of non-compliance with requirements that came into effect on 1 April 2010.

The necessary change of telephone number takes only a few weeks to arrange, however a total of 1 year's grace was granted, so that practices could perhaps make more extensive changes to their arrangements.

It has been reported, and confirmed, that some Surgery Line users are extending call durations (by a few seconds) by including a call cost information message on 0844 numbers.
The message (listen below) suggests that the pence per minute rate charged by BT before 4 January 2011 is 'typical' and offers no other specific information.
This seems to do nothing more than confirm Daisy's view that 0844 numbers are unsuitable for use by NHS surgeries. Only those BT landline users who breach the terms of their chosen Call Plan pay for calls to geographic rate numbers, so any call charge and setup fee makes the call more expensive. Whether it is 5p, 0.5p or £5 per minute makes no significant difference.

See below (left) the latest item of coverage by a local BBC TV news programme.

As the presenter of another similar item cast doubt over the claim that this was an “exclusive” story, we thought it might be interesting to put together a playlist of the 13 items that we have been involved with - from September 2007. (See below right). Not all items include familiar faces; contributions by ‘campaigners’ are often made without appearance or named acknowledgement.

Following the BBC Look North (North East and Cumbria) coverage of a GP practice continuing to use a 0844 number, the practice has responded with a statement on its website.
As this includes the invitation, “Please do not hesitate to get in touch with us if you have any questions or concerns” we have responded with an open message (see below).
We hope that media interest will stimulate similar debate with every other similar, committed and concerned, practice in the same position - our arguments will remain essentially unchanged.

We disagree with GPs, PCTs and others who argue that “patient choice” in the NHS includes the right to pay for improved access, so long as free access is available to those who cannot afford it.

On Friday 19 October, the Kent Messenger reported and commented on the fact that more than 30 GP practices across the county continue to use and adopt banned 084 telephone numbers - see images from the paper.

The investigation which led to this report was prompted by a detailed briefing issued on 7 September 2012 by the fair telecoms campaign.

View the full news release to read our comments.