| 2 May 12 | NHS.Patient | Supporting Surgery Line |  | Supporting NHS GPs using Surgery Line in compliance with the contractual requirements for non-geographic telephone numbers |
| 23 Apr 12 | NHS.Patient | Virgin Care does not use 0844 telephone numbers in providing NHS services - its partners do that | | Virgin Care provides “over 100 NHS services across the country with a focus on community and primary healthcare”. These include the following surgeries, where the terms of the current NHS GP contract are being breached by the continuing use of 0844 telephone numbers. |
| 21 Apr 12 | David Hickson Media Release | NHS GPs are still adopting 084 telephone numbers, 2 years after this was prohibited |  | On 27 March 2012, Secretary of State for Health Andrew Lansley confirmed in parliament:
"We have made it very clear that GPs should not be using 0844 numbers".
There are 1,247 surgeries still using these numbers in England and Wales. |
| 5 Apr 12 | BBC Radio Coventry and Warwickshire | 5 Apr 12 - BBC Radio Coventry and Warwickshire - New rules for 08 telephone numbers |  | David Hickson, from the Campaign for Fair Telecoms, and Colin Browne from the Ofcom Consumer Panel discuss the proposals |
| 5 Apr 12 | BBC Radio Wales | 5 Apr 12 - BBC Radio Wales - New rules for 08 telephone numbers | | David Hickson, from the Campaign for Fair Telecoms, describes the effect on users such as NHS GPs |
| 4 Apr 12 | David Hickson Media Release | Ofcom proposes a fairer system for telephone call charges | | Ofcom proposals released today announce the end of the 084 telephone number "rip-off" practiced by many businesses and public bodies. (See Simplified call charges to help consumers.) |
| 27 Mar 12 | They Work For You | Andrew Lansley confirms that NHS GPs should not be using 0844 numbers |  | Secretary of State for Health, Andrew Lansley, makes the most uneqivocal statement about expensive telephone numbers used by GPs
"GPs should not be using 0844 numbers" |
| 19 Mar 12 | Graham Brady (Altrincham and Sale West, Conservative) | Written Ministerial Answer from Simon Burns, Minister of State (Health) | | To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make it his policy to end the use of 0844 prefix telephone numbers for (a) the Referral Booking Management System and (b) IT departments of primary care trusts or their successor bodies. |
| 15 Mar 12 | They Work For You | Written parliamentary answer confirming that Ofcom will shortly be announcing detailed changes to the regulation of pricing for 084 telephone numbers | | Ministerial confirmation that the forthcoming Ofcom announcements will cover new rules for 084 and other revenue sharing ranges and making 080 numbers free to call for all . |
| 14 Mar 12 | David Hickson Media Release | The NHS Hospital Phone rip off continues, although with one less example | | Aside from permitting the scandalous misuse of "personal numbers" for bedside phone services by appointed contractors, the NHS itself continues to use expensive 084 phone numbers. It also allows contracted GPs to do the same. |
| 12 Mar 12 | Lincolnshire Free Press | Outrage at surgery's use of premium lines |  | PATIENTS at Munroe Medical Centre in Spalding are outraged the surgery is still using 'expensive' 0844 telephone numbers, despite being asked by the Government not to. |
| 12 Mar 12 | West Sussex County Times | Patients assured over 0844 numbers | | PATIENTS across the district have been reassured this week that calls to their doctors' surgeries do not cost more than a local rate number. |
| 4 Mar 12 | NHS.Patient | Which? misled about the costs of calling NHS GPs 0844 telephone numbers? | | I highlight errors and misrepresentations in a draft for a standard letter issued by NEG, to be sent to Which? |
| 1 Mar 12 | NHS.Patient | "Evidence" relevant to NHS GPs in breach of their contracts by using 084 telephone numbers | | These comments are to explain the evidence from telephone bills submitted and published at this link - - and to outline the context in which it is provided. |
| 1 Mar 12 | East Grinstead Courier and Observer | Patients hit by soaring bills when calling GPs | | PATIENTS in the East Grinstead area claim they are paying a fortune to dial 'premium-rate telephone numbers' to reach their GPs.
Two surgeries “ Judges Close and Lingfield” have 0844 numbers, which patients have to use to talk to their doctor or make an appointment.
(See my comment) |
| 28 Feb 12 | NHS.Patient | Daisy Group confirms how its Surgery Line users fail to comply with NHS Regulations on use of 084 telephone numbers | | Daisy Group has, perhaps unintentionally, placed NHS GP users of its Surgery Line telephone system in an almost impossible position, if they are seeking to pretend that they can continue to use 0844 telephone numbers.
It has published a document, oddly entitled "Statement of Compliance with NHS Regulations". |
| 24 Feb 12 | David Hickson Media Release | NHS Bodies forced to re-assess their policy on tolerating use of 084 telephone numbers | | Pressure from campaigners has finally produced a positive response from the Department of Health to the widespread failure to implement the ban on use of expensive telephone numbers in the NHS, which was first announced on 14 September 2009.
Yesterday the Department of Health issued Further Guidance on The use of 084 numbers in the NHS. This was addressed to NHS bodies which themselves use these numbers and to the Primary Care Trusts which are required to enforce the contractual conditions imposed on GPs. |
| 24 Feb 12 | Nick Bostock - GP Online | BMA disputes DH guidance on premium rate practice phone numbers | | The BMA is disputing DH guidance ordering GP practices whose phone lines cost more than local rates to negotiate a revised deal |
| 23 Feb 12 | NHS.Patient | What to do if you are paying too much to call your NHS GP | | If your GP is using a 0844 or 0845 telephone number and this costs you more than the cost of an equivalent call to a geographic number, then the practice is in breach of its NHS contract.
(In theory, there may be circumstances in which it is unable to migrate to the equivalent 034 number, but I have seen no evidence of any such case.)
My suggestions for actions you may wish to take follow. Please contact me at any point for detailed advice, support and assistance. |
| 21 Feb 12 | David Hickson Media Release | Health Services Minister, Simon Burns, challenged on NHS GP charges | | Please see my open message to Simon Burns, Minister of State (Health Services), published at this link.
This enables the issue of GPs using expensive telephone numbers to be seen in the context of the government's intentions for health service provision in England. |
| 20 Feb 12 | NHS.Patient | Open message to Simon Burns regarding NHS GPs using 084 telephone numbers | | In responding to the Westminster Hall debate on this matter, on 24 January 2012, you stated (at Col 55WH):
"People say that there are 1,300 GP practices that charge more than they should; what they do not say is which practices they are, and they do not provide the robust proof that overcharging is happening".
If you were referring to myself and those who have repeated the statements in my briefing "Parliament to debate 'Use of 084 telephone numbers in the NHS'", then you misrepresented my position. |
| 3 Feb 12 | Warren Manger - Coventry Telegraph | Coventry patients paying a high price to call their doctor | | HUNDREDS of patients in Coventry and Warwickshire are being forced to pay over the odds to call their doctor.
Now councillors in Coventry want action taken to cut those costs.
Research reveals two GP clinics in Coventry and 11 in Warwickshire who are still using '084' numbers
See my comment. |
| 2 Feb 12 | Jo Gibney - Which? advocacy assistant | Is your GP still using an expensive phone number? | | A New 'Which?' conversation asking for anecdotal evidence of GP surgeries using 084 numbers in breach of their NHS contracts |
| 29 Jan 12 | NHS.Patient | Open message in response to the letter to the Telegraph - "NHS in peril" | | I am interested to note your letter to the Telegraph, which has been taken as support for the efforts of the Government to eventually replace our National Health Service, funded exclusively from taxation, with a patient-focussed English Health Service, funded by patients with some central government support. Articles such as this Daily Telegraph piece have presented you and your colleagues as opposing efforts to encourage parliament to reject the bill that would enable this to come about. |
| 26 Jan 12 | Jonathan Walker - Birmingham Post | West Midlands MP slams GP surgeries with premium phone lines | | Bob Ainsworth urged Ministers to intervene following reports that more than one in 10 surgeries are still using the high-cost numbers.
Leading a House of Commons debate, he said: 'No one should pay enhanced charges to access their GP.'
See my comment |
| 26 Jan 12 | Jonathan Walker - Coventry Telegraph | Coventry MP calls for GPs to stop using premium rate phone numbers | | GP surgeries must be stopped from using expensive premium numbers which push up patient phone bills, a Coventry MP has said. Bob Ainsworth (Lab, Coventry North East) urged ministers to intervene.
See my comment |
| 25 Jan 12 | NHS.Patient | Please Help to Save the NHS - a Request from Simon Burns | | PLEASE RESPOND TO THIS URGENT REQUEST FROM MR BURNS |
| 25 Jan 12 | NHS.Patient | Some comments on Government policy, as revealed on debating 084 telephone numbers in the NHS | | I comment on remarks made in the Westminster Hall debate yesterday on "084 telephone numbers in the NHS". I pick out specific points with reference to government policy for comment. This note does not intend to convey the general thrust of the arguments, nor present a comprehensive summary. In each case, I quote the relevant text from the remark, covered by a link to the Hansard text for context. |
| 24 Jan 12 | NHS.Patient | Government blind to NHS GP contract breaches | | Responding to a Westminster Hall debate today, Health Minister Simon Burns pleaded blindness as his defence against a failure to ensure enforcement of a requirement for GPs to give up the subsidy they receive, at the expense of patients, by using expensive 084 telephone numbers. |
| 24 Jan 12 | They Work for You | 084 Telephone Numbers (NHS) - Debate in Parliament (Westminister Hall) | | Westminister Hall debate led by Bob Ainsworth MP - response by Simon Burns MP, Minister of State (Health Services)
(Note my annotation against this speech |
| 22 Jan 12 | NHS.Patient | 084 telephone numbers in the NHS - proposal for resolution | | I have prepared and published an outline proposal for how the government, through the Department for Health, may now deal with the situation of the NHS GPs who continue to use 084 telephone numbers in breach of contractual requirements introduced in April 2010.
This has been done ahead of the Westminster Hall adjournment debate at 12:30 on Tuesday 24 January, which is covered by this general briefing.
The full draft of my proposal is published here. |
| 20 Jan 12 | Tom Porter - Epping Forest Guardian | Campaigners welcome Commons debate on 0844 numbers | | Campaigners in the Epping Forest area have welcomed news that the controversial use of premium rate 0844 numbers by surgeries is to be debated by parliament. |
| 20 Jan 12 | BBC Radio Coventry and Warwickshire | 20 Jan 12 - BBC Radio Coventry and Warwickshire - Bob Ainsworth's debate on NHS 084 telephone numbers | | Bob Ainsworth MP and David Hickson on GPs with 084 telephone numbers again. |
| 20 Jan 12 | David Hickson Media Release | Parliament to debate 'Use of 084 telephone numbers in the NHS' | | Bob Ainsworth MP for Coventry North East will be leading a debate on this topic in Westminster Hall, at 12:30 next Tuesday, 24 January. A government minister will reply. |
| 11 Jan 12 | BBC Radio Leeds | 11 Jan 12 - BBC Radio Leeds - 0844 numbers for Leeds GPs again | | Vautrey explains, David Hickson responds |
| 11 Jan 12 | BBC Radio Leeds | 11 Jan 12 - BBC Radio Leeds - 101 West Yorkshire GPs using 084 telephone numbers | | Dr Richard Vautrey discusses why his practice charges patients for access to NHS services |
| 10 Jan 12 | Edward Vaizey, in reply to Mary Glindon MP (annotation by DH) | DCMS Written Answer on Ofcom dealing with mobile call charges | | To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport if he will encourage mobile telephone operators to review their charges for (a) 0800, (b) directory enquiries and (c) other non-geographic calls.
See comprehensive reply and annotation by DH. |
| 6 Jan 12 | David Hickson Media Release | GPs using expensive telephone numbers - the "escape route" is revealed by NEG | | all existing users of "Surgery Line" can take advantage of NEG’s offer for them to migrate to 034 numbers, to comply with their NHS contracts, whilst retaining all the benefits of the Surgery Line system. |
| 2 Jan 12 | Doncaster Free Press | High cost calls to GPs a rip-off! | | DOCTORS are under attack from a Dearne MP, for 'ripping off' their patients by using high cost telephone numbers.
Wentworth and Dearne MP John Healey is calling for the disuse of numbers that can cost patients up to 40p per minute to call their GP. |
| 27 Dec 11 | Yorkshire Post | MP calls on GPs to end 'rip off' charges for phoning surgeries | | FAMILY doctors have been called on by the former Shadow Health Secretary to stop using 'rip-off' phone numbers which can cost patients 40p per minute more than a standard call.
John Healey, MP for Wentworth and Dearne, has also written to Health Secretary Andrew Lansley asking him to 'put a stop to GPs using these expensive numbers.' |
| 18 Dec 11 | David Hickson Media Release | Doctors face regulation as providers of "Premium Rate Phone services" | | Premium rate phone service regulator PhonePay Plus has invited over 1,400 NHS GPs and other users of 084x telephone numbers, including NHS Direct, HMRC and the DWP agencies, to present their views on the prospect of having to pay it a fee and submit to its regulation - see this news release. |
| 6 Dec 11 | Wokingham Times | Caroline Cook | Scrap premium rate numbers for surgeries | | A Neighbourhood Action Group (NAG) is calling on GPs to publicise local telephone numbers alongside premium rate lines to stop people being charged more for booking appointments.
The NAG is now trying to make people aware of the geographical numbers available and said people can contact the surgery on (0118) 929 9493 instead of calling 0844 numbers on the surgery website. |
| 4 Dec 11 | NHS.Patient | Local campaigners publish geographic numbers for 0844 surgery | | the Neighbourhood Action Group for the district of Earley, near Reading, has adopted a tactic that could be used by similar groups elsewhere |
| 29 Nov 11 | NHS.Patient | Your NHS GP practices using 084 telephone numbers (message to PCTs and MPs) | | The draft which follows is of a circular message sent today to each NHS PCT Cluster Chief Executive, with copies to the MPs representing the affected patients.
The circulation and the variable data added to each message is published here. |
| 24 Nov 11 | Warrington Guardian | Anger over telephone switch at Woolston surgeries | | TWO doctors surgeries in Woolston are being investigated by NHS Warrington over claims new phone call charges are breaking regulations.
The phone number used at the Holes Lane Surgery and Manchester Road Surgery was changed this month from Warrington’s 01925 code to 08443. |
| 20 Nov 11 | David Hickson Media Release | Will Talk Talk be fined for Silent Calls - and what about undermining the NHS? | | It is claimed that sources now suggest that Ofcom will not follow the same approach with Talk Talk as it recently did with Homeserve and nPower.
Although Ofcom issued Notifications of Misuse to both companies, neither was subject to a penalty nor an enforceable obligation to cease the practice. |
| 19 Nov 11 | Jon Rees | Mail on Sunday | TalkTalk facing new Ofcom fine over silent calls | | TalkTalk is expected to be fined up to £2million by regulator Ofcom for making silent calls to customers. |
| 18 Nov 11 | NHS.Patient | Contribution to a Which? conversation | | I have been asked to provide statements confirming that
"0344 provides the same functionality for the surgery as 0844"
I regret that I cannot provide a link to the specific comment to which I reply, nor has it been possible to add the comments that follow to the "conversation". |
| 10 Nov 11 | David Hickson Media Release | Daisy Group endorses "co-funding" for access to NHS services | | Daisy may be one of many commercial providers of services used for the NHS, who would argue that patients should pay through co-funding arrangements. The BMA, representing those who will lead Clinical Commissioning Groups, supports this argument.
I believe that this issue has to be nailed now, before we are talking about paying thousands of pounds for "NHS" treatment, rather than a few pounds to book an appointment with a NHS GP. |
| 8 Nov 11 | NHS.Patient | Daisy Surgery Line and "Enhanced Telephony" | | There is keen public debate over the still unresolved issue of NHS GPs using 084 telephone numbers to gain subsidy of their costs at the expense of patients. As a contribution to this debate, Daisy Group, the provider of the Surgery Line system used by many NHS GPs, has issued a helpful leaflet - Enhanced Telephony - THE FACTS
Noting this useful contribution to the debate, I have published two documents:… |
| 1 Nov 11 | BBC Radio Coventry and Warwickshire | 1 Nov 11 - BBC Radio Coventry and Warwickshire - Coventry & Warwickshire GPs in breach of their NHS contracts (2/2) | | Reprise + Comments from local GP Dr Tony Feltbower |
| 1 Nov 11 | BBC Radio Coventry and Warwickshire | 1 Nov 11 - BBC Radio Coventry and Warwickshire - Coventry & Warwickshire GPs in breach of their NHS contracts (1/2) | | Comments from DH, Mark Pawsey MP and local campaigner Lorraine |
| 29 Oct 11 | Halifax Courier | Surgery gets rid of that 0844 number | | Beechwood Medical Centre has now reverted to a landline number after patients voiced dissatisfaction at being charged extra from mobile phones when booking appointments. |
| 27 Oct 11 | David Hickson Media Release | Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust - poor patient services and charges for access to the NHS | | BHR is one of a number of NHS bodies which continue to use 084 telephone numbers, so as to obtain subsidy for their costs at the expense of patients. (See this briefing.) This is despite clear Directions issued by Mr Lansley's Department in December 2009, demanding compliance by December 2010. |
| 21 Oct 11 | David Hickson Media Release | At last - HMRC responds to the call to adopt 0345 telephone numbers !! | | HMRC expect that they will, by the end of the year be able to offer an 0345 number for those customers calling its tax credit helpline (which last year accounted for around 40% of the total calls handled by its contact centre network).
“The provision of a 0345 number is expected to result in significant cost savings for the majority of callers to the line.” |
| 20 Oct 11 | David Hickson Media Release | DWP allows Work Programme providers to "charge" participants | | The government's position on the issue of charging for access to public services is neatly summarised in a written answer from Chris Grayling, Minister of State - DWP, to a question about whether Work Programme providers are permitted to use 084 / 087 numbers. See Hansard 17 October c644W. |
| 13 Oct 11 | David Hickson Media Release | Talk Talk joins the list of Silent Callers not likely to receive a £2 Million fine | | Ofcom has today announced (see Consumer Bulletin) that Talk Talk has been served with a formal Notification of Persistent Misuse of the Telephone Network on account of making an excessive number of Silent Calls.
This is of particular interest to me in the context of my other campaigning role - Talk Talk is the company behind the vast majority of the expensive telephone numbers being used by NHS GPs. |
| 12 Oct 11 | The Argus | Doctors’ surgeries flout telephone rules, report reveals | | Doctors' surgeries across Sussex are continuing to use 084 phone numbers six months after a deadline for their removal has passed.
A report has revealed two practices in Brighton and Hove, 10 in East Sussex and 23 in West Sussex all use the numbers instead of local dialling codes. |
| 7 Oct 11 | David Hickson Media Release | Premium telephone numbers still being used by NHS GPs - 18 months on from the ban and 6 months after the deadline for necessary changes | | To: All MPs with constituents who are not being properly served by the NHS |
| 6 Oct 11 | Epping Forest Guardian | EPPING FOREST: Fury as surgeries fail to change premium rate phone lines | | Despite receiving a warning from health authorities over three months ago, medical centres throughout the area still using premium rate 0844 numbers. |
| 22 Sep 11 | David Hickson Media Release | Virgin Media overcharging callers trying to avoid Tesco Business Rate numbers | | Virgin Media has acknowledged a systemic billing error, which involved charging callers who dialled local geographic numbers as if they had made an "Operator Connected" call to a 0845 number!
The error has been corrected and I am told that all overcharges will be refunded. |
| 9 Sep 11 | Danny Alexander | Written Answers and Statements - Telephone Services: Government Departments: 6 Sep 2011 | | To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much revenue the Government have received from each Government helpline using an 0845 number in the latest period for which figures are available. |
| 22 Aug 11 | David Hickson Media Release | NHS Bodies undermine attempts to end the GP telephone number rip-off | | Whilst efforts to enforce the ban on use of expensive telephone numbers by NHS GPs in England continue, they are undermined by NHS bodies doing the same. |
| 21 Aug 11 | NHS.Patient | NHS Bodies in Breach of Directions to uphold the principles of the NHS | | On 21 December 2009, the Department of Health imposed "Directions to NHS Bodies concerning the cost of telephone calls". |
| 18 Aug 11 | Public Service Campaigner | EDM 2035 (Premium Rate Telephone Nunbers) | | I quote below the text of a message sent to:
Proposers and Signatories of EDM 2035 (Premium Rate Telephone Nunbers)
Members of the Public Administration, Health, Treasury and Work & Pensions Committees |
| 9 Aug 11 | David Hickson Media Release | NHS Dentists warned of the danger of being misled about the cost of calling 084 telephone numbers | | Like their colleagues in General Practice, NHS Dentists are committed to upholding the principles of the NHS as they deliver NHS services to patients.
This article, by practice consultants PSDS, warns that practices can be misled when choosing a telephone system.
The article refers to a particular un-named company providing systems for Dentists and GPs, which requires practices to adopt a 0844 telephone number. |
| 9 Aug 11 | David Hickson Media Release | Ofcom shows why public service providers must cease using 0845 telephone numbers, initially providing 0345 alternatives | | Public service providers must consider the whole of the population they are serving, not some selective group, nor what may be (perhaps wrongly) thought to be a majority.
Those requiring "non-geographic" telephone numbers must move away from 0845 numbers and IMMEDIATELY OFFER THE 03 EQUIVALENT AS AN ALTERNATIVE. |
| 6 Aug 11 | Sheffield Star | GP phone numbers switch | | Work is continuing in doctors surgeries across Sheffield to switch any remaining 0844 and 0845 telephone numbers over to a geographic code.
A Department of Health deadline in April - which said patients should not be charged at more than a local rate whether they were ringing from a landline, mobile phone or public telephone - passed without all practices in the region meeting the requirements.
See DH comment, also published here. |
| 6 Aug 11 | NHS.Patient | Comment on Sheffield Star article - GP phone numbers switch | | I added the following comments to an article published by the Sheffield Star - GP phone numbers switch. |
| 6 Aug 11 | The Cornishman | This is Cornwall | SOUTH EAST Cornwall’s MP has renewed her calls for the Government to ban doctors from using 0844 numbers at their surgeries. | | SOUTH EAST Cornwall's MP has renewed her calls for the Government to ban doctors from using 0844 numbers at their surgeries.
Sheryll Murray wrote to Health Secretary Andrew Lansley MP urging him to legislate on telephone numbers after thousands signed a petition against the local-rate calls. |
| 4 Aug 11 | David Hickson Media Release | Department of Health decides to roll out 111 nationally - without knowing the cost | | In a letter published today, demanding plans for implementation of the 111 telephone service throughout England, it is announced that the roll out will happen. This decision has been taken before the planned evaluation of the pilots which was scheduled for the Autumn. Most disturbingly, it has been taken before any of the costing figures from the pilots have been assembled. |
| 3 Aug 11 | David Hickson Media Release | **** disrespecting the NHS | | I must ask that anyone who has read this item contact Daisy Group Plc before using any of this material to ensure that only accurate information about this company is published. |
| 2 Aug 11 | YouTube | 2 August 2011 - BBC North West Tonight |  | Apprentice star Matthew Riley is grilled over his own business plan |
| 1 Aug 11 | David Hickson Media Release | The telephone rip-off for aspiring university students is here again | | As results day approaches, UCAS has apparently doubled the number of staff ready to take calls on its PREMIUM RATE TELEPHONE LINE. |
| 1 Aug 11 | Bedfordshire on Sunday | Surgeries’ call charges are making patients sick | | An NHS campaigner believes more should be done to tackle potentially costly call charges for patients.
There are currently eight practices in the county using non-geographic rates but NHS Bedfordshire has said it will encourage them to move away from that system when their contracts finish. |
| 30 Jul 11 | David Hickson Media Release | Parliamentary Committee urges HMRC to stop using "premium charge" 0845 telephone numbers | | |
| 30 Jul 11 | BBC Radio Suffolk | 30 Jul 11 - BBC Radio Suffolk - Suffolk GPs in breach of their NHS contracts | | Comments from DH, Ben Gummer MP and Suffolk PCT |
| 30 Jul 11 | Public Service Campaigner | Ofcom's proposed call cost advice | | The following illustration is from Ofcom's consultation … |
| 29 Jul 11 | E-Health Insider | E-Health Insider :: 084 row rumbles on | | The BMA’s GP committee has questioned the accuracy of a statement made by health minister Anne Milton about the use of 084 telephone numbers by GP practices. |
| 28 Jul 11 | BBC Three Counties Radio | 28 Jul 11 - BBC Three Counties Radio - Bedfordshire GPs in breach of their NHS contracts | | Discussion of use of 0844 telephone numbers in Beds, Herts and Bucks |
| 28 Jul 11 | NHS.Patient | Example of how PCTs are failing | | A good example of how the ban on use of expensive telephone numbers is failing to be enforced is highlighted by an article published by Bedfordshire PCT - 22 July 2011 : Dr Cakebread and Partners to get ‘local code’ phone number. |
| 27 Jul 11 | Public Service Campaigner | Angry people wanted to talk about "Rip-Off Britain" | | The BBC is looking for contributors to the 3rd series of "Rip-Off Britain". |
| 27 Jul 11 | David Hickson Media Release | The BMA advises its members to continue the 084 telephone number scam | | In its July 2011 newsletter the BMA General Practitioners Committee disputes the accuracy of a statement made to parliament, and advises members using 084 numbers that they are not bound by the terms of their NHS contracts. |
| 21 Jul 11 | The Guardian | Doctors to launch public campaign against proposed NHS reforms | | BMA votes to reject idea that changes to health and social care bill will reduce the risk of privatisation of the health service
Comment - "How can I, as a defender of the NHS, support the BMA in its campaign against the government when the respective positions on current charges for NHS patients are reversed?" |
| 19 Jul 11 | Wokingham Times | Anger as surgery keeps premium rate number | | Campaigners fighting to stop their doctor’s surgery from using premium-rate numbers say they are still being forced to pay more than they should to book an appointment despite reassurance from the local PCT.
see comment in response to the following statement from the PCT:
“The advice given by the Department of Health was that the cost of calling the 0844 numbers should be in comparison to the cost of using a fixed line to call a geographical number at the local BT rate.” |
| 18 Jul 11 | Anne Milton in reply to Mark Pawsey | House of Commons debates - GPs (Premium Rate Telephone Numbers) | | "Since April this year, GPs have not been allowed to use a number that charges patients more than the cost of an equivalent geographical call."
"It is absolutely clear that there is no distinction between landlines, mobiles or payphones."
"The Department is very clear, and the general medical services contract makes it very clear, that GPs are not allowed to do it." |
| 18 Jul 11 | Essex Chronicle | GP slammed for forcing public to pay for 084 number | | A DOCTOR at the centre of a row over a surgery phone number has been accused of misleading his patients.
Many residents still have to pay a premium-rate charge to call the Ongar Health Centre, which advertises an 084 number, despite a Department of Health directive stipulating all calls to an NHS centre should not cost more than a geographical phone call. ...
Now a campaign group, saynoto0870.com, has claimed the surgery does have a geographical phone number that can stack calls. ... |
| 18 Jul 11 | Nelson Leader | Trust confirms 084 phone charges follow guidelines | | The East Lancashire Primary Care Trust has confirmed that GP practices in Pendle which use a 084 number are following the guidelines and that call charges are no more expensive than those of an equivalent local call. If a patient calls the surgery from a mobile phone, the call charges will be higher.
(See comments which indicate that the PCT is mistaken) |
| 17 Jul 11 | David Hickson Media Release | **** asked to stop undermining the NHS | | I must ask that anyone who has read this item contact Daisy Group Plc before using any of this material to ensure that only accurate information about this company is published. |
| 13 Jul 11 | Anne-Marie Morris (Newton Abbot, Conservative) | Written Ministerial Answer from Simon Burns, Minister of State (Health) | | To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of (a) GP surgeries, (b) hospitals and (c) dental practices in (i) England and (ii) Devon that operate 0844 or 0845 telephone numbers. |
| 13 Jul 11 | David Hickson Media Release | Ban on use of 084 telephone numbers in the NHS confirmed in parliament | | "Since April this year, GPs have not been allowed to use a number that charges patients more than the cost of an equivalent geographical call."
"It is absolutely clear that there is no distinction between landlines, mobiles or payphones. are very clear that patients should not expect to be charged any more." |
| 12 Jul 11 | YouTube | 12 July 2011 - Confirmation of ban on 084 numbers in the NHS | | Health Minister Ann Milton confirms that cost of calling from mobiles and payphones cannot be disregarded and that the DH will help PCTs to understand their duties. |
| 11 Jul 11 | David Hickson Media Release | News Alert - "premium rate telephone numbers" - announcement expected | | Health Questions, Tuesday 12 July 2:30 pm
"(8) ... the use by GP surgeries of premium rate telephone numbers"
It is hoped that in answer to this, the 8th question on the Order Paper, the Health Minister will confirm that many PCTs are misinterpreting the terms of GP contracts by continuing to permit use of 084 telephone numbers, on quite spurious grounds. |
| 10 Jul 11 | NHS.Patient | PCTs failing to understand DH Guidance | | Contrary to the understanding of many PCTs, the Department of Health position on the topic of use of expensive telephone numbers to contact NHS providers is very clear, simple and unqualified.
It is specified in the wording of Directions to NHS bodies [Directions] and revisions to the GMS contract [GMS] - NOTHING MORE. |
| 8 Jul 11 | South Wales Evening Post | AM wants better GP call access | | ANOTHER call has been made for improved access for patients wanting to see their GP, including the scrapping of expensive calls to make appointments.
Speaking in the Senedd, Aberavon AM David Rees referred to a survey that recorded improvements in accessing appointments over the last 12 months.
But, he said, some people still struggled to access a GP and many faced high call charges when they contacted them by phone. |
| 7 Jul 11 | Sheffield LINk | GP phone numbers update | | Sheffield LINk (Local Involvement Network) advises on progress in its campaign to get NHS GPs to stop using expensive telephone numbers.
It reports that all surgeries should have 0114 numbers by the end of July. |
| 7 Jul 11 | Sheffied Star | Deadline for GPs’ phones | | DOCTORS’ surgeries across Sheffield are working towards a deadline at the end of this month to have their telephone numbers switched over to a local geographic code. |
| 30 Jun 11 | Chigwell Guardian | Seriously ill patient unable to afford premium rate call charge | | A SERIOUSLY ill woman was unable to afford the call to make an appointment to see her doctor after the medical centre started charging premium rates for patients to ring them. |
| 29 Jun 11 | David Hickson Media Release | The NHS GP - 084 "co-payment" club | | Another pair of NHS GP surgeries join the 084 "co-payment" club by adopting revenue sharing telephone numbers |
| 24 Jun 11 | NHS.Patient | PCT Cluster Chief Executives asked to remove "co-payment" from the NHS | | All use of 084 telephone numbers invokes a revenue sharing mechanism between the call originating telephone company and the company providing service on the number. Notwithstanding the vagaries of some unusual (if common) tariffs, this represents a "service charge" added to the call charge and applied to the financial benefit of the call recipient in some form. When a patient is calling their NHS GP on such a number, this is nothing other than indirect co-payment. |
| 24 Jun 11 | Ongar Gazette | HEALTH centre is being accused of charging patients premium rates to call | | Patients using the Ongar Health Centre have complained they are being charged more than the cost of a standard call when calling the surgery.
(See comment)PATIENTS are being reassured that phone numbers to get through to some Llanelli doctors' practices do not cost premium rates.
... the telephone provider has confirmed the costs of calls are being kept low.
(see comment below the article) |
| 23 Jun 11 | South Wales Evening Post | Assurance on GP phone rates | | PATIENTS are being reassured that phone numbers to get through to some Llanelli doctors' practices do not cost premium rates.
... the telephone provider has confirmed the costs of calls are being kept low.
(see comment below the article) |
| 16 Jun 11 | David Hickson Media Release | Primary Care Trusts accused of sanctioning "co-payment" in the NHS | | Many Primary Care Trusts have failed to enforce GP contract revisions that should have eliminated use of 084 telephone numbers by 1 April 2011. If this is anything more than falling for the misrepresentations made by those who believe that patients should pay to fund GP telephone systems, then it is a positive sanction for co-payment.
The Department of Health declares no interest in this matter - see this written answer. |
| 16 Jun 11 | Simon Burns in reply to Iain Wright | Written answers and statements 14 Jun 2011: General Practitioners: Telephone Services | | To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will estimate the proportion of GP surgeries in England which use premium 0844 numbers for patients seeking appointment; and if he will make a statement.
The Department has made no assessment ...
See annotation for the answer |
| 15 Jun 11 | NHS.Patient | Enforcement of the principle of "free at the point of need" in the NHS | | You have a statutory duty, under the terms of the Health Act 2009, to have regard to the rights declared in the NHS Constitution. If you are properly aware of the situation and un-swayed by those who argue for co-payment, you will have no option other than to ensure that use of 084 numbers is eliminated from the NHS. |
| 14 Jun 11 | Braintree and Witham Times | GP surgery changes its number amid complaints | | A doctors surgery accused of profiting from patients through its 0844 telephone number insists the number will change within weeks.
See DH comment |
| 14 Jun 11 | Simon Burns in reply to Iain Wright | Written answers and statements 8 Jun 2011: General Practitioners: Telephone Services | | To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance his Department provides to GPs on the use of 0844 numbers for patients seeking appointments; and if he will make a statement.
...It is the responsibility of primary care trusts ... |
| 14 Jun 11 | Simon Burns in reply to Bob Russell | Written answers and statements 8 Jun 2011: General Practitioners: Telephone Services | | To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the level of compliance by general practitioners with his Department's guidance on the use of premium line telephone numbers for use by patients; and if he will make a statement.
The Department has made no assessment ... |
| 14 Jun 11 | Simon Burns in reply to Caroline Nokes | Written answers and statements 9 Jun 2011: General Practitioners: Telephone Services | | To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he has any plans to take steps in relation to the use by/of GP surgeries using 084 telephone numbers after April 2011.
The Department does not ... |
| 13 Jun 11 | NHS.Patient | How will NHS reforms meet the funding gap? | | Andrew Lansley has stated that the NHS faces a … |
| 9 Jun 11 | Hemel Hempstead Gazette (letter) | It’s time to end this NHS phones rip-off | | “If our NHS is to survive, the GP telephone number scam must end, and if the government believes in the principles of the NHS it must act now.” |
| 8 Jun 11 | NHS.Patient | NHS GPs using expensive telephone numbers - new database | | |
| 7 Jun 11 | David Hickson Media Release | IF "OUR NHS" IS TO SURVIVE, THE GP RIP-OFF TELEPHONE NUMBER SCAM MUST END | | If the UK Government believes in the principles of the NHS it must prove this by acting to protect them NOW.
Otherwise we cannot believe its alleged intentions for the future when it proposes changes that can only undermine their application. |
| 4 Jun 11 | Hampshire Chronicle | A new number for out of hours doctor’s service | | THE phone number for the out of hours doctor’s service during evenings and weekends has changed to 0300 300 2012, charged at the local rate from a BT landline. |
| 30 May 11 | Western Mail | Patients pay higher call charges for out of hours care | | PATIENTS in some of the most deprived parts of Wales are paying higher call charges to contact their out of hours doctor.
Health boards still use 0845 numbers for these services in large parts of South Wales.
This is despite guidance from the Welsh Government to phase out the use of revenue-sharing 0845 numbers in the health service, and has led to concerns that patients will not call for help because of the cost. |
| 27 May 11 | David Hickson Media Release | NHS Direct has caught up with mobile apps - but not mobile voice calls! | | NHS Direct has announced the launch of a useful app for smart mobiles -,
but it continues to withhold the 0345 4647 alternative "Geographic Rate" telephone number, which would save mobile callers from incurring unnecessary premium charges. |
| 25 May 11 | BBC Radio Berkshire | 25 May 11 - BBC Radio Berkshire - Berkshire and Basingstoke GPs breaching their contracts | | Discussion (including PCT comments) on application of the GMS contract |
| 24 May 11 | Say No To 0870 blog | SAY NO TO 0870 . COM Blog: Who is responsible for setting the cost of a telephone call? | | The ban on phone numbers that cost more to call than geographic or landline numbers within the NHS has had little effect.
One of the biggest reasons for this appears to be the way in which PCTs are taking at face value assurances, given by GPs’ telephone providers, on the cost patients incur when dialling their numbers.
In this posting, I explain, using some simple logical thinking, why these supposed affirmations are in reality totally worthless. |
| 24 May 11 | Elite Telecom | The premium rate doctor will see you now |  | In times of sickness when you’re not feeling your absolute best, it seems more effort to go into work and less effort to see your doctor - but with many local surgeries enforcing premium rate numbers when calling up to arrange appointments, perhaps it’s a case of less effort to go into work and more effort to ring your GP. |
| 24 May 11 | Bracknell Forest Standard | Premium rate numbers to call the doctor | | Patients calling some Bracknell GP surgeries are being forced to pay higher rates to book an appointment.
People trying to call their GP for an appointment could be paying up to 41p per minute for their calls despite recent legislation banning surgeries from charging more than the local rate. |
| 24 May 11 | Wokingham Times | Premium rate numbers to call the doctor | | Patients calling some Wokingham GP surgeries are being forced to dial premium-rate phone numbers to book an appointment.
People trying to call their GP for an appointment say they are paying up to 35p per minute for their calls despite recent legislation banning surgeries from charging more than the local rate. |
| 17 May 11 | Norwich Evening News | Norwich GP practice defends new 0844 number | | A Norwich health practice has defended its new phone number which could cost some patients up to 41p a minute to call.
West Pottergate Health Centre, in Earlham Road, switched over to using an 0844 number this week.
While the centre argues that most patients will be unaffected as it will cost no more to call from a landline, critics say it can cost as much as 41p a minute from a mobile phone, |
| 17 May 11 | Bournemouth Echo | NHS users still being stung on call costs | | CALLERS could still be paying over the odds to contact NHS services from Dorset, a campaigner has claimed.
A dozen GP practices in the county and the out of hours service run by South Western Ambulance Service Trust are still using numbers beginning with 084. |
| 17 May 11 | Simon Burns in reply to Valerie Vaz | 5 May 2011: Written answers and statements - Health - General Practitioners | | To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he is taking steps to ensure that GP practices do not require their patients to use telephone numbers that are more expensive to call than geographic numbers, as stipulated in the Standard General Medical Services contract, section 29b. |
| 16 May 11 | NHS.Patient | Resistance to the ban on use of 084 numbers by NHS GPs | | The revision to the GMS contract (adding clause 29B) has not effected a ban on the use of 084 telephone numbers by GPs.
This posting addresses the relevant provisions in detail and covers some of the (spurious) reasons that may be offered to suggest that they do not apply to cases where clearly they do. |
| 16 May 11 | NHS.Patient | Comments on my campaigning efforts | | |
| 10 May 11 | David Hickson Media Release | The NHS "Free at the point of use" - in future ? - now? | | NHS GPs are continuing to adopt expensive telephone numbers - the latest goes live tomorrow!
When there are more than 1000 to choose from, it seems unfair to highlight a single case, but it serves as a good example.
On Wednesday 11 May, the West Pottergate Health Centre in Norwich will adopt its new 0844 telephone number. |
| 5 May 11 | Western Mail | Sixty surgeries still asking patients to call them on high-rate numbers - Wales News | | GP SURGERIES have been urged to stop using expensive-rate 0844 numbers costing up to 41p a minute to call, after it emerged scores of practices in Wales still use them.
A patients’ watchdog said practices should be using local rate geographic phone numbers, which are included in most people’s telephone talk plans.
The call comes after a patient’s blog revealed 60 practices in Wales are using 0844 or 0845 numbers for patients to contact their doctor. |
| 2 May 11 | Daily Mail | Daily Mail Comment - “General malpractice” | | Today the Mail reveals that more than 1,000 GP surgeries are still charging patients up to 41p a minute to phone for appointments or test results.
For some of the 10million patients affected, this can cost £8 for a single call.
So much for a health service “free at the point of delivery”.
Rightly, doctors are highly respected. But they’ll lose that respect if they’re seen to be putting their own comforts above consideration for their patients.
This shameless exploitation of the vulnerable must cease. |
| 1 May 11 | Leamington Spa Courier | Company defends charges for calling GP practices | | The company behind controversial 084 numbers for some GP surgeries in Warwickshire has insisted it is not breaching NHS guidelines.
But a campaigner has called for an end to charging patients for calls - and warned that patients calling their surgery from mobile phones or landlines other than BT should check their charges. |
| 1 May 11 | Daily Mail | 10m patients are being ripped off by GPs’ 40p-a-minute phone lines | | More than 1,000 surgeries are still charging patients more than 40p a minute to make a call, a month after they were told to stop.
Doctors should no longer use the high cost 0844 or 0845 lines under guidelines that came into force at the beginning of last month. |
| 1 May 11 | David Hickson Media Release | Rip-off GP telephone number provider openly seeks to undermine the NHS | | In a most extraordinary development, Network Europe Group (the provider of the "Surgery Line" GP telephone system part-funded by patients, who pay premium rates to call 0844 numbers) has publically declared its opposition to the principle that NHS services are funded by taxation, rather than by patients as they access services. |
| 1 May 11 | Daily Express | GPs flout deadline to ditch costly call rates | | PATIENTS are still having to dial premium-rate numbers to call their surgery because some GPs are flouting a Department of Health deadline to ditch the service. |
| 30 Apr 11 | Rotherham Advertiser | Rotherham doctors accused over phone “rip-off” | | DOCTORS in Rotherham have been accused of flouting a ban on premium rate phone numbers which campaigners claim “rip off“ patients.
The deadline for NHS surgeries to stop using phone numbers attracting a premium rate has now passed, but a newly compiled league table places South Yorkshire GPs in the number one spot. |
| 29 Apr 11 | South Wales Evening Post | PATIENTS are being forced to dial premium rate phone numbers to get through to some Neath Port Talbot GP surgeries. | | PATIENTS are being forced to dial premium rate phone numbers to get through to some Neath Port Talbot GP surgeries.
They say they are being given little option but to call through to 08 and 09 numbers for medical support, which can cost as much as 10p per minute, labelling the high cost as "a toll on the sick." |
| 29 Apr 11 | NHS.Patient | GIG Bwrddau Lechyd (NHS Health Boards in Wales) to enforce principle of "free at the point of need" before the NHS can move forward | | To support efforts by NHS Officials to enforce the principle of "free at the point of need" and to assist those to whom they are accountable to hold them to this important task, I provide a list of surgeries as shown in the Health in Wales Directory as having failed to adhere to the conditions of the GMS Contract. |
| 27 Apr 11 | David Hickson Media Release | Expensive GP telephone numbers are now relatively even more expensive for BT customers | | BT has today made further adjustments to its prices for residential customers (see "Some of our prices are changing"). |
| 27 Apr 11 | Huddersfield Express and Chronicle | Anger as Holmfirth based doctor surgery continues to use premium rate phone line | | GOVERNMENT directives to reduce the cost of phoning NHS services are being ignored in Kirklees, a pensioner has claimed.
Last year the Government pledged to scrap the practice of health centres and GP surgeries using 0844 prefixed telephone numbers. |
| 27 Apr 11 | YouTube | 27 April 2011 - Look North - for Expensive GP Telephone Numbers | | Coverage of the case of South Yorkshire heading the national league table of PCT clusters now required to deal with GPs in breach of the principles of the NHS ... and now their contracts. |
| 27 Apr 11 | Which? | GPs - stop using expensive phone numbers | | GPs have been asked to stop using expensive numbers, but a quick check reveals many still are. Most of us have inclusive call plans that exclude certain numbers, so should GPs make more effort to switch?
(See comments made in the conversation below this article) |
| 26 Apr 11 | Sheffield Star | GP surgeries are still using premium rate dialling codes - JOIN THE DEBATE | | South Yorkshire GP practices are continuing to use phone numbers that charging up to 41p a minute when patients contact a surgery - flouting a Department of Health deadline which said they should not be charged at more than local rate after April 1. |
| 24 Apr 11 | Primus Saver | GPs criticised for high-rate landline calls | | Some GPs require patients to call premium rate numbers, despite being told to offer cheaper alternatives, a report reveals.
Some calls cost as much as 41p a minute. |
| 24 Apr 11 | Health Service Journal | South Yorks “worst offender for premium rate GP phone numbers” | | PERFORMANCE: GPs in the South Yorkshire cluster of PCTs are the biggest users of premium rate phone numbers, according to a campaign group. |
| 19 Apr 11 | Markham Sivak for OFCOM | Statements from Ofcom about 084 telephone numbers | | A number of formal atributable statements provided by Ofcom in answer to questions concerning 084 telephone numbers.
These provide a formal confirmation of points made in discussing the issues and are valuable in de-bunking certain myths |
| 19 Apr 11 | Yorkshire Post | GPs ‘break rules’ on high-rate phone numbers | | CAMPAIGNERS have accused GPs of breaking new rules which prevent them using higher-cost telephone numbers. |
| 19 Apr 11 | Pulse | Controversy over GP use of 0844 numbers | | GPs are being accused of breaching new rules banning the use of 0844 practice numbers.
Campaigner David Hickson has named more than 1,000 practices, using information compiled on the NHS Choices website, that he claims are in breach of new regulations. |
| 19 Apr 11 | Leicester Mercury | Patients still count cost of calls to GPs | | Patients are still paying hefty phone charges when calling their GP surgery despite a Department of Health clamp down on the use of expensive 084 numbers. |
| 19 Apr 11 | BBC Radio Sheffield | 19 Apr 11 - BBC Radio Sheffield - South Yorkshire tops the league for rip-off GPs | | Over 150 South Yorkshire GPs are breaching their NHS contracts |
| 18 Apr 11 | David Hickson Media Release | NHS Reforms - Government says "PCTs must carry on with their work"! | | The government has confirmed that it is the PCTs, under threat of abolition, who are responsible for ensuring that GPs provide NHS services “free at the point of need”.
This article in a GP journal raises the issue of over 1,000 GP practices shown by NHS Choices to be in direct breach of their NHS contract, by continuing to use expensive telephone numbers past the 1 April deadline. In response, the Department of Health is quoted as confirming - "It is up to PCTs to ensure that GP practices comply". |
| 15 Apr 11 | NHS.Patient | PCT Clusters to enforce principle of "free at the point of need" before the NHS can move forward | | "Our NHS" cannot move forward with its fundamental principles already undermined by the use of unauthorised indirect charges from providers on patients in place. The contract revisions should have been, and remain, adequate to remove this unacceptable breach of principle, if they are properly interpreted and applied.
To support efforts by NHS Officials to enforce the principle of "free at the point of need", I provide the following information: |
| 14 Apr 11 | NHS.Patient | The controversy over GP use of 0844 telephone numbers develops | | GP journal "Pulse" has published an article setting my views against those of the BMA, the Department of Health and Network Europe Group (NEG). I have added a few comments below the article. |
| 11 Apr 11 | NHS.Patient | 084 calls more expensive than geographic calls for NHS patients | | |
| 10 Apr 11 | NHS.Patient | MPs with work to do to defend the NHS | | This item offers an alternative presentation of the information found in my recently published listing of 1111 surgeries from NHS Choices that identified "NHS GPs using expensive telephone numbers in breach of their contract".
Please refer there for full details and comments, including comprehensive information about the cost of calling and links to actual published telephone tariffs. My aim here is to assist MPs in serving the interests of constituents who are affected and I list these cases again. |
| 6 Apr 11 | David Hickson Media Release | GP telephone system provider NEG joins the debate on NHS reforms - to question "free at the point of need" | | In its response to the consultation on Simplifying Non-Geographic Numbers, leading Primary Care Telephone System Provider, NEG, argues that the principle of "free at the point of need" does not work for “enhanced” GP telephone systems. Its Surgery Line system is too expensive to be funded properly by GPs themselves. |
| 4 Apr 11 | David Hickson Media Release | GPs now in breach of their NHS contracts - named and shamed by NHS Choices | | Breach of Contract
NHS Choices shames over 1000 GPs who obtain subsidy for the costs of running their surgeries at the expense of NHS patients. From 1 April 2011 they stand in explicit breach of their NHS contract. |
| 31 Mar 11 | BBC Radio Solent | 31 Mar 11 - BBC Radio Solent - NHS GPs with 0844 numbers | | Marking the final day on which NHS GPs are allowed to use expensive telephone numbers |
| 25 Mar 11 | NHS.Patient | Why the ban on use of expensive telephone numbers in the NHS has not yet been implemented | | |
| 21 Mar 11 | NHS.Patient | Circular message to GPs using 0844 telephone numbers | | Following my recent general message to GP surgeries using 0844 or 0845 telephone numbers, I have found around 100 cases of practices using 0844 telephone numbers listed on NHS Choices along with email addresses.
I have therefore taken the opportunity to contact them, using and referring to this published information. |
| 15 Mar 11 | David Hickson Media Release | Ofcom, mobile termination rates and the future of telephone costs | | Ofcom has today published its statement on the future regulation of mobile termination rates (see statement and press release).
The effect of this regulation will be to reduce the cost of calling mobiles, essentially to the same rate as those for calling Geographic Rate landlines. There will be other effects.GMS contract, and for PMS contractors subject to the same terms, they have until 31 March 2011 to terminate their use of "expensive" telephone numbers. |
| 11 Mar 11 | NHS.Patient | GP surgeries using 0844 or 0845 telephone numbers | | I offer the following advice to NHS GPs. Under the terms of the GMS contract, and for PMS contractors subject to the same terms, they have until 31 March 2011 to terminate their use of "expensive" telephone numbers. |
| 10 Mar 11 | Guardian Healthcare Network | Time for the NHS to reverse the charges | | GPs, hospitals and national services continue to use 084 phone numbers that cost extra to call. It's time to hang up on them |
| 7 Mar 11 | NHS.Patient | Ofcom consultation: Simplifying Non-Geographic Numbers | | Somewhat belatedly perhaps - I have published some simple notes reflecting a personal view on responding to the Ofcom consultation on Simplifying Non-Geographic telephone numbers. |
| 7 Mar 11 | David Hickson Media Release | This Thursday (10 March) is the deadline for responses to the Ofcom consultation on expensive telephone numbers | | Ofcom proposes that the Service Charge which recipients gain from these calls be clearly advertised as such and the Access Charge added by the telephone company be advised and charged separately.
I believe that these proposals should receive the strongest possible support. Ofcom requires responses by Thursday 10 March. |
| 2 Mar 11 | NHS.Patient | Banning 084 numbers from the NHS in Scotland | | Two written answers to questions have been delivered to the Scottish parliament - see below: |
| 2 Mar 11 | David Hickson Media Release | Premium telephone charge for pensioners facing tax demands | | This story - Pensioners given days to meet shock tax demands - advises that pensioners should call HMRC on 0845 3000 627 "to discuss payment options".
They pay a premium to HMRC even to call this number. |
| 28 Feb 11 | Public Service Campaigner | We must end this confusion - or is it a deliberate rip-off! | | It is a simple matter of fact that all "Business Rate" (084 and 087) telephone numbers are generally more expensive to call than "Geographic Rate" numbers - see Telephone call costs.
Why is this? |
| 25 Feb 11 | The Press and Journal (Aberdeen) | GP surgeries using 0845 numbers | | SIR, I was concerned to read (the Press and Journal, February 21) the comments of an NHS Grampian spokesman regarding the use of 0845 phone numbers for GP surgeries even when the government is against their use. |
| 24 Feb 11 | David Hickson Media Release | The case is made for HMRC and DWP to migrate from their 0845 telephone numbers to 03 NOW | | HMRC and DWP agencies have decided to continue charging for enquiry calls on their "Business Rate" 0845 telephone numbers, rather than migrating to "Geographic Rate" 03 numbers. This decision is apparently supported by a determination that despite the premium charge, allegedly ‘callers pay less to call 0845 numbers than 03’! Such a perverse determination sadly requires some effort to challenge.
I have some important points to make. I also touch on the NHS in passing. |
| 21 Feb 11 | The Press and Journal (Aberdeen) | Claim GPs “taxing the sick” over phone calls | | Medical practices across the north-east were accused last night of “taxing the sick” after it was revealed 20 are still using high-tariff phone numbers despite a clampdown by the Scottish Government. |
| 20 Feb 11 | Derby Telegraph | Surgery's phone queue keeps me hanging on | | SCENARIO: 8.00am, I ring relevant 0844 number to my GP's surgery. An electronic voice directs me to press one of a series of numbers for the relevant assistance. I press "one for appointments". A voice confirms that I am through to appointments.
Music plays. |
| 16 Feb 11 | Burton Mail | Campaigner criticises NHS Direct over the cost of telephone calls | | THE chairman of Swadlincote’s 50-plus Forum is urging the public to stand up and complain about the “alarming” cost of calls to NHS Direct.
Gill Farrington, older people’s champion for the town, said she felt the public was being “ripped off” by the service which offers health advice over the phone 24 hours a day. |
| 15 Feb 11 | David Hickson Media Release | Conservative Health Minister repeats Labour mistakes by not banning expensive GP telephone numbers | | In a written parliamentary answer Simon Burns, Minister of State (Health), shows that he is repeating a key mistake made by his predecessor. |
| 14 Feb 11 | Nicola Sturgeon in reply to Bill Butler MSP | General Practitioners: 19 Jan 2011: Scottish Parliament Written answers | | As of 1 November 2010, 40 GP practices were using premium rate telephone numbers. ... |
| 14 Feb 11 | Simon Burns in reply to David Morris | General Practitioners: Telephone Services: Written answers and statements | | To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects non-geographic telephone numbers for GP surgeries to be phased out ... |
| 11 Feb 11 | Women Confidentials | NHS Direct callers are charged up to £3.70 but free number for patients is axed | | NHS Direct is the number everyone calls, but the rich and the poor, as bad as times are the price for calling NHS Direct should be free, instead the new report is that callers will be charged up to £3.70 for a single call, what is NHS Direct turning into asking their sick callers to be paying that much for every call made. |
| 11 Feb 11 | Daily Mail | NHS Direct callers charged up to £3.70 but free number for patients is axed | | Patients are charged up to 41p a minute to ring the 0845 helpline, which campaigners describe as a 'rip-off' on the sick.
David Hickson, who has long campaigned against premium-rate calls, said:
“No NHS provider should be using telephone numbers that cost patients a premium of up to £3.70 for a nine-minute call, even if for some patients there is no premium charged.
“All public services should cease using 084 numbers now - 03 numbers offer the equitable alternative.” |
| 10 Feb 11 | David Hickson Media Release | Telephone calls to the NHS - an expensive mess - NHS Direct now at the heart of this | | NHS Direct has long been a model to demonstrate how patients can be made to contribute to the funding of NHS services as they use them |
| 4 Feb 11 | Public Service Campaigner | Telephone call costs | | I am often asked to give examples of the relative cost of telephone calls to Geographic Rate and Business Rate numbers.
The following table covers the cost of weekday daytime calls of exactly 5 minutes, reflecting prices published as at 27 February 2011. |
| 30 Jan 11 | Simon Burns in reply to Ann-Marie Morris | Health: Telephone Services: 25 Jan 2011: Written answers and statements | | "The Department issued guidance and directions to general practitioner practices and NHS bodies, including hospitals, [on use of 0844 and 0845 numbers] which came into force on 21 December 2010."
There is no reference to changes to the GP contract |
| 27 Jan 11 | David Hickson Media Release | The Department of Health is NOT implementing a contractual ban on use of expensive telephone numbers by GPs - according to the Health Minister | | In the course of changes to the NHS, the government is reluctant to impose regulatory constraints on GPs. This apparently includes neglecting enforcement of a contractual requirement to adhere to the principle of not charging patients for access to NHS services! |
| 25 Jan 11 | Epping Forest Guardian | LOUGHTON: Surgery manager vows to scrap premium-rate number | | A HEALTH centre manager has vowed to scrap her surgery's premium rate phone number after the Guardian revealed the massive phone bills patients are running up. |
| 25 Jan 11 | NHS.Patient | Questions for the Secretary of State for Health - Tuesday 25 January 2011 | | If a patient’s "right" to choose how much they pay for access to NHS treatment is more important than strict adherence to the principles of the NHS, then we have publicly-subsidised healthcare, rather than a National Health Service. |
| 24 Jan 11 | The Press and Journal (Aberdeen) | Call for 0845 phone number used by GP surgeries to be axed - Press & Journal | | The Scottish Government is under pressure to scrap an 0845 phone number largely used by GP surgeries in the north-east after an MSP claimed patients were being “disadvantaged”. |
| 19 Jan 11 | David Hickson Media Release | The principles of the NHS - challenged now - will this get worse or better? | | I respond to the speech on the principles of public service by the Prime Minister on Monday and anticipate reaction to the publication of the Health and Social Care Bill today. |
| 9 Jan 11 | David Hickson Media Release | MPs recruited to fight to eliminate NHS telephone service charges | | As Pathfinder GP Consortia stand ready to take over the NHS from public bodies and parliament prepares to debate a NHS (Abolition?) Bill, I seek to recruit MPs to defend the principles of the NHS on behalf of their constituents and all other citizens. |
| 9 Jan 11 | NHS.Patient | Message to MPs brought into the fight to eliminate NHS telephone Service Charges | | |
| 9 Jan 11 | NHS.Patient | MPs brought into the fight to eliminate NHS telephone Service Charges | | |
| 7 Jan 11 | David Hickson Media Release | Ofcom announcement causes public bodies to come under attack for use of "Business Rate" 084 telephone numbers | | The Low Income Tax Reform Group has renewed its attack on HMRC for its use of what are now called "BUSINESS RATE" 0845 telephone numbers. |
| 20 Dec 10 | David Hickson Media Release | Public service providers must immediately cease using "BUSINESS RATE" telephone numbers | | Ofcom has published a consultation on proposals for the future regulation of non-geographic telephone numbers - Simplifying Non-Geographic Numbers.
The published information includes a comprehensive analysis of the current costs of calling 0845 and 0844 numbers. 1 This clearly demonstrates that the cost of calling these numbers (now designated "Business Rate") is greater than that of calling "Geographic Rate" numbers for most callers. |
| 16 Dec 10 | David Hickson Media Release | The Government and the NHS must stop using "Business Rate" telephone numbers, where the call charge includes a "service charge" | | Ofcom has today published extensive information about 0845 and 0844 telephone numbers - Simplifying Non-Geographic Numbers.
This includes proposals to rename these ranges as "business rate" and to require the call charges to be "unbundled", so that the "access charge" paid to the telephone service provider is separated from the "service charge" to the benefit of the user of the number. |
| 13 Dec 10 | Chelmsford Weekly News | Hospital phone numbers are local again | | A HOSPITAL trust is dropping its use of 0844 telephone numbers. Mid Essex Hospitals NHS Trust reverted to local codes (01245) from Saturday.
(See quoted comment from Simon Burns, local MP and MInister of State -Health Services) |
| 13 Dec 10 | BBC Radio Essex | 13 Dec 10 - BBC Radio Essex - NHS Hospitals and GPs using and abandoning 0844 numbers | | One hospital abandons its 0844 numbers but there is much more to do |
| 9 Dec 10 | Essex Chronicle | ESSEX: NHS Patients still forced to ring premium-rate phone numbers | | Patients across Essex are still being forced to use extortionate premium phone numbers to call doctors and dentists - despite government recommendations that they be scrapped. |
| 2 Dec 10 | Essex Chronicle | ESSEX: NHS trust bows to pressure over costly 0844 codes | | PREMIUM hospital phone numbers are to be scrapped this week in favour of cheaper local dialling codes. NHS Mid Essex Hospitals Trust is scrapping its expensive 0844 numbers after a catalogue of complaints from frustrated patients. |
| 30 Nov 10 | E-Health Insider | Two NHS bodies drop 084 numbers | | The Summary Care Record Information Line and an NHS hospital have become the latest NHS organisations to drop their premium rate 084 telephone numbers. |
| 30 Nov 10 | David Hickson Media Release | One NHS hospital finally gives up its expensive 084 telephone numbers - what about the rest? | | A media release from the Mid Essex Hospital Services NHS Trust, announces the end of its use of expensive 0844 telephone numbers starting from 4 December. |
| 17 Nov 10 | David Hickson Media Release | 111 in chaos - the fee charging 0845 4647 NHS Direct number will remain for many years - but there is an alternative | | A published letter from Andrew Lansley, Secretary of State for Health to Stephen Dorrell, Chair of the Health Committee of Parliament, shows that plans for the new NHS 111 telephone service are in chaos. |
| 6 Oct 10 | David Hickson Media Release | Government wastes money by charging for public services | | Many government departments and public bodies continue to pay for their telephone systems by ripping-off service users. They use “revenue-generating” 084 telephone numbers, when they should be following strong advice to use ‘cost neutral’ 03 numbers. |
| 20 Sep 10 | David Hickson Media Release | BBC and NHS Direct - Victories for the campaign against rip-off telephone numbers - an example to follow | | Longstanding defenders of expensive telephone numbers are now relenting
Two major examples have been moved to "03" numbers, but there is more to do. |
| 12 Sep 10 | David Hickson Media Release | 0845 telephone numbers - the truth; the way forward is revealed | | I am delighted to have appeared on BBC "5Live investigates" on Sunday evening to reveal some facts about the use of 0845 numbers by ...( |
| 12 Sep 10 | BBC 5Live | 12 Sep 10 - BBC 5Live - HMRC and 0845 telephone numbers | | "5 Live Investigates" use of 0845 telephone numbers by HMRC and other public bodies
Track Info |
| 12 Sep 10 | David Hickson Media Release | 0845 telephone numbers and public bodies (DWP, HMRC, NHS) | | I have just published an updated briefing on this issue. Please refer there for detail and links.
This includes a pre-announcement of … |
| 11 Sep 10 | Public Service Campaigner | 0845 telephone numbers - JobCentre Plus, the DWP and other public bodies | | This extended briefing addresses confusion and uncertainty at the DWP. It also pre-announces the launch of a specific campaign to restore equity to the cost of … |
| 7 Sep 10 | David Hickson Media Release | Millions Fail to Get Through to Local GPs - Millions Pay their NHS GP for Telephone Access | | Network Europe Group has just released research "Millions Fail to Get Through to Local GPs" which suggests that 20 Million patient calls … |
| 7 Sep 10 | E-Health Insider | E-Health Insider Primary Care :: Call to add 0345 to NHS Direct-111 mix | | NHS Direct has been urged to allow patients to use 0345 as an alternative to the current 0845 number, before 111 is introduced.
Telephone campaigner David Hickson says it will be at least three years before the three digit non-emergency number 111 is in use nationwide. |
| 5 Sep 10 | David Hickson Media Release | NHS Direct abandons one of its expensive 0845 telephone numbers | | Further to my previous release and briefing - NHS Direct - a telephone rip-off (also HMRC and Ofgem) … |
| 2 Sep 10 | David Hickson Media Release | NHS Direct - a telephone rip-off (also HMRC and Ofgem) | | The, as yet un-covered, ... |
| 28 Aug 10 | David Hickson Media Release | The end of NHS Direct - misuse of expensive 0845 telephone numbers will continue for some time | | There is no great news story in the ‘revelation’ that the NHS Direct Health ... |
| 28 Aug 10 | Daily Mirror | NHS DI-WRECKED | | ConDems axe phone line for cheap service
The hugely popular NHS Direct phoneline service is being axed, blundering Health Secretary Andrew Lansley has let slip. |
| 18 Aug 10 | The Echo (Basildon) | Hospital restores 01268 code to its number (From Echo) | | BASILDON Hospital has re-instated the 01268 dialling code to its telephone number following pleas from the public. |
| 12 Jul 10 | NHS.Patient | GPs who "rip off" patients to be given greater freedom. The end of the NHS as we know it? | | I add the following comments to those circulated earlier as "A liberated NHS - Free to levy charges on patients? - Advance briefing on Andrew Lansley's ... |
| 12 Jul 10 | David Hickson Media Release | A liberated NHS - Free to levy charges on patients? - Advance briefing on Andrew Lansley's announcement 12 July 2010 | | My engagement in the campaign to stop use of revenue ... |
| 18 Jun 10 | David Hickson Media Release | FREE TELEPHONE CALLS TO THE NHS | | I quote a Media Release from the Department of Health |
| 8 Jun 10 | NHS.Patient | Department of Health Directions fail to ban "expensive" telephone numbers | | The Directions from the Department of Health leave it to each NHS body to make its own determination about what is an "expensive" number. There has always been concern that this will not achieve the desired result of eliminating telephone numbers that are "more expensive" from the NHS.
The briefing which is copied below picks up on one particular case, where the objective has clearly not been achieved. |
| 1 Jun 10 | NHS.Patient | Ofcom joins the party late - my response to a preliminary consultation | | In the Autumn of 2010, Ofcom will issue proposals for the revisions of the regulations covering what it now calls Non-Geographic Call Services.
This will cover, most contentiously, 084 numbers. |
| 28 May 10 | David Hickson Media Release | BMA hides its policy on charges for access to NHS services | | The General Practitioners Committee of the BMA has just announced the launch of a public consultation on GP services - BMA asks the public for their views on GP access and out-of-hours care (28 May 2010).
This consultation fails to address, or invite comment on, a most controversial policy position held by the BMA as declared in its GPC GUIDANCE: USE OF 084 NUMBERS IN THE NHS. |
| 18 May 10 | David Hickson Media Release | Ban on use of expensive telephone numbers by GPs starts here | | The contract which applies to has now been amended to include a complete ban on use of … |
| 17 May 10 | NHS.Patient | Implementation of Ban on use of "expensive" telephone numbers by NHS GPs | | To: Chief Executives of all PCTs in England
Implementation of Ban on use of "expensive" telephone numbers by NHS GPs |
| 30 Apr 10 | NHS.Patient | The end of rip-off GP telephone numbers - contract revisions now issued | | A media release has been issued, drawing attention to the fact that the revisions to the GP Contracts have now been issued to PCTs by the DH. PCTs will … |
| 30 Apr 10 | David Hickson Media Release | The end of rip-off GP telephone numbers - contract revisions now issued | | NHS Primary Care Trusts were yesterday notified of revisions to the GMS contract, which PCTs are required to enforce on the GPs in their local area. |
| 21 Apr 10 | David Hickson Media Release | GENERAL ELECTION ISSUE - Will the NHS remain free at the point of need? | | The 2005-2010 government started to implement a ban on use of expensive (084) telephone numbers by NHS providers, but failed to complete the task.
Patients continue to subsidise the costs of providing NHS services, as they access them, through the "revenue sharing" arrangement that is always in place whenever 084 telephone numbers are used by NHS GPs and Hospitals. |
| 20 Apr 10 | NHS.Patient | GENERAL ELECTION ISSUE - Will the NHS remain free at the point of need? | | Efforts by campaigners to stop GPs, Hospitals and other NHS service providers from obtaining clear subsidy from patients by use of expensive "revenue sharing" 084 telephone numbers were thought … |
| 22 Mar 10 | David Hickson Media Release | Will the BMA be able to beat the government by enabling GPs to continue using expensive telephone numbers? | | Revisions to the NHS GP contracts, which will come into effect on 1 April, have been published. A formal announcement will be made shortly.
Implementation of these requirements should be the fulfilment of a long campaign to stop GPs subsidising the cost of providing NHS services at the expense of patients.
The BMA has issued Guidance to its members. This advises GPs to avoid (evade?) the intended ban. There is already evidence that the BMA tactics are being deployed successfully. |
| 19 Mar 10 | NHS.Patient | Will the BMA be able to beat the government by enabling GPs to continue using expensive telephone numbers? | | The formal announcement of changes to the GP contracts to be applied from 1 April is imminent. In readiness for this, I pose a question, offer a briefing ... |
| 4 Mar 10 | David Hickson Media Release | More "choice" in the NHS | | |
| 1 Mar 10 | David Hickson Media Release | The cost of calling NHS Direct - as it is, and as it should be | | |
| 28 Feb 10 | NHS.Patient | Why are calls to 084 numbers more expensive, but not from BT? | | These comments provide an explanation for information released about the cost of calling NHS Direct. The comments apply to calls to all 084 numbers. |
| 29 Jan 10 | David Hickson Media Release | More people to incur surcharges for calling GP 0844 telephone numbers | | |
| 26 Jan 10 | David Hickson Media Release | Government efforts to prevent NHS GPs ripping off patients have failed - this must now change! | | |
| 26 Jan 10 | NHS.Patient | Comments on the Daily Mail item - Millions of patients pay 40p a minute to phone their GP | | The Daily Mail reports reports a claim by Network Europe Group that "Up to 200 doctors' practices have switched to the controversial 0844 numbers in the past six months". |
| 19 Jan 10 | David Hickson Media Release | Use of revenue sharing (084) telephone numbers in the NHS is now ILLEGAL | | |
| 17 Jan 10 | NHS.Patient | "Ban" on use of expensive (revenue sharing) telephone numbers - Briefing to all PCTs and SHAs | | This posting is for a general briefing, however it contains the essence of a message distributed to the Chief Executives of ALL PCTs and SHAs in England. |
| 15 Jan 10 | YouTube | 15 Jan 2010 Working Lunch | | Report on the move by the DWP to pay mobile providers to make 0800 calls free. Further discussion of related issues, including the cost of calling 084x numbers, especially from mobiles. |
| 14 Jan 10 | Health and Fitness Articles Resources | The Outcome of Department of Health’s Consultation Could Boost 03 Numbers in the NHS | | Should the outcome (in September) mean that the 084 numbers in the NHS are banned, the natural alternative (and the one that is advocated by the Department of Health) are 0300 numbers. |
| 13 Jan 10 | E-Health Insider | GPC enters the fray on 084 numbers | | GP practices can continue to use 084 numbers if they obtain confirmation from their supplier that they are no more expensive than making a local call - and the main provider of such services to GPs will guarantee this, according to the BMA’s GP committee. |
| 13 Jan 10 | Healthcare Republic | GPC guidance on 084 numbers 'worthless', says NHS campaigner | | Guidance issued by the GPC that suggests practices can continue to use 084 numbers despite a recent government ruling has been called 'worthless' by a NHS campaigner. |
| 12 Jan 10 | Mike O'Brien in reply to Laurence Robertson | Oral Answers to Questions - Health: GP Telephone Numbers (12 Jan 2010) | | Laurence Robertson: What recent guidance his Department has issued to GP practices on their use of 0844 telephone number systems; and if he will make a statement. |
| 12 Jan 10 | YouTube | 12 Jan 2010 Health Questions | | Mike O`Brien answering questions in parliament, seeming to make it clear that NHS GPs have to give up using 084 telephone numbers by 21 December 2010. |
| 12 Jan 10 | David Hickson Media Release | The BMA fixes a deal on 084 telephone numbers with the Department of Health - it must be un-fixed | | From: David Hickson - campaigner for the NHS
The BMA GPC has published its guidance to NHS GPs on 084 telephone numbers in anticipation of revisions to the ...( |
| 12 Jan 10 | Pulse | Don't hang up on 084 numbers yet urges GPC | | The GPC has issued new advice to GPs telling them that they can carry on using controversial 084 numbers, despite a recent ruling by the Government . |
| 5 Jan 10 | David Hickson Media Release | Use of revenue sharing 084x telephone numbers banned in the NHS - Yes or No? | | To: NHS bodies in England delivering or commissioning NHS services delivered by telephone (I include the NHS Direct Trust on account of services it delivers for other NHS bodies, notably ... |
| 5 Jan 10 | NHS.Patient | Advice to NHS Bodies 1 - Introduction and Summary | | Advice to NHS Bodies concerning the cost of telephone calls
1 - Introduction and Summary |
| 5 Jan 10 | NHS.Patient | Advice to NHS Bodies 2 - Useful information | | Advice to NHS Bodies concerning the cost of telephone calls
2 - Useful information |
| 5 Jan 10 | NHS.Patient | Advice to NHS Bodies 3 - Telephone tariffs used by NHS Patients | | Advice to NHS Bodies concerning the cost of telephone calls
3 - Telephone tariffs used by NHS Patients |
| 29 Dec 09 | David Hickson Media Release | NHS Charges - car parking consultation to follow failed telephone charges consultation last year | | Whilst we wait for the Department of Health to properly sort out the failure and ... |
| 24 Dec 09 | Healthcare Republic | DoH bans practices using premium-rate numbers | | Calls to practices, hospitals and PCTs in England must cost less than premium rates, following the introduction of new legislation this month |
| 23 Dec 09 | David Hickson Media Release | Expensive telephone numbers for calling the NHS - The Department of Health funks it | | After a 3½ month consultation, a 6½ month delay, a confusing and misleading announcement on 14 September and a further 3 month delay ... |
| 21 Dec 09 | HM Government | Healthtelephone - epetition response | | Government response to the petition to the Prime Minister - to prevent local health centres and hospitals from using 08 numbers such as 0844, 0845 or 0870. |
| 10 Dec 09 | David Hickson Media Release | Rip-off NHS Telephone numbers - New statement from the Department of Health | | To: Concerned MPs and media |
| 9 Dec 09 | YouTube | 9 Dec 2009 South East Today | | Coverage of Guy Mayhew's campaign and petition to No 10, with a contribution from Westminster. |
| 30 Nov 09 | David Hickson Media Release | Rip Off Britain - update | | The episode of Rip Off Britain broadcast by BBC1 this morning highlighted a number of important issues regarding use of revenue sharing telephone numbers... |
| 30 Nov 09 | YouTube | 30 Nov 2009 - Rip Off Britain - BBC1 | | Coverage of the issue of revenue sharing telephone numbers, especially when used by public services, notably the NHS, as part of Rip Off Britain. |
| 29 Nov 09 | David Hickson Media Release | BBC1 Daytime TV highlights revenue sharing Telephone Number Rip Off | | From: David Hickson - public services campaigner
In the first of a series of programmes on “Rip Off Britain”, to be broadcast on BBC 1 tomorrow (Monday 30 ... |
| 28 Nov 09 | Submitted by: Guy Mayhew | Petition to the Prime Minister: prevent local health centres and hospitals from using 08 numbers such as 0844, 0845 or 0870 | | This petition closes with 51,437 signatures |
| 13 Nov 09 | David Hickson Media Release | The Department of Health confirms that NHS "access charges" are permissible | | Quoted below is a most helpful reply I have received from the Department of Health. The relevant section is highlighted. |
| 5 Nov 09 | David Hickson Media Release | Ban on use of expensive GP telephone numbers will not happen | | Further to previous briefings (notably this epic, which contains all of the relevant links), I have now finally confirmed that the ban on use of expensive telephone numbers to … |
| 22 Oct 09 | David Hickson Media Release | The truth about the alleged “ban” on use of expensive telephone numbers by NHS GPs | | On its release, I immediately questioned Mike O'Brien about his announcement of 14 September. After waiting … |
| 14 Oct 09 | N3 Voice Services | The answer to DOH ban on 084 numbers? | | The Department of Health recently announced that is going to stop GPs charging patients premium rates to call their surgeries. These numbers cost more than a local call for patients. NHS Trusts calling GPs will also pay more than a local call. |
| 13 Oct 09 | NHS.Patient | Theft of the NHS | | Once we had only "24 hours to save the NHS"
Around 24 hours ago, in its dying days, the present New Labour government, which was first elected ... |
| 13 Oct 09 | Mike O'Brien in reply to Andrew Lansley | Written Answers - Health: NHS Direct (13 Oct 2009) | | Mike O'Brien: ... … … - Note: It should be noted that this information only refers to calls made to 0845 46 47, and not any other services provided by NHS Direct. |
| 12 Oct 09 | Mike O'Brien in reply to Stephen O'Brien | Written Answers - Health: NHS: Telephone Services (12 Oct 2009) | | Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the results of his Department's consultation on the use of 0845 telephone numbers by the NHS will be published. |
| 11 Oct 09 | David Hickson Media Release | Health Bill debates - Monday 12 October - Briefing | | Health Bill - Report and 3rd reading debates - Monday 12 October - NHS Constitution - Briefing |
| 7 Oct 09 | David Hickson Media Release | Health Bill - NHS Constitution - 084 telephone numbers - Briefing to MPs and media | | 3rd Reading in the Commons. This will ... |
| 24 Sep 09 | David Hickson Media Release | NHS Trusts funded by patients | | This message is addressed to those listed on the web page - NHS bodies using 084x (copies to selected media) |
| 22 Sep 09 | NHS.Patient | Further statement by the Health Minister | | Seven days ago I presented 5 questions to Mike O'Brien, Minister of State (Health Services) regarding the announcement "NHS TO BAN PREMIUM RATE CHARGES". |
| 18 Sep 09 | David Hickson Media Release | NHS TO BAN USE OF PREMIUM RATE CALL CHARGES - 3 | | It is now time for politicians of all the major parties to be honest and admit that after 61 years they are prepared to formally sacrifice the ...(" |
| 17 Sep 09 | NHS.Patient | NHS TO BAN USE OF PREMIUM RATE CALL CHARGES | | The Department of Health has spent over 18 months looking into the issue of use of 084 numbers in the NHS and on Monday 14 September 2009 announced: |
| 17 Sep 09 | Healthcare Republic | GP contract will cap call charges | | GP contracts will be amended to include a ban on the use of phone lines that charge patients premium rates, the DoH has said. |
| 15 Sep 09 | Healthcare Republic | NHS campaigner queries premium rate ban | | The effectiveness of the DoH ban on premium rate numbers has been called into question by NHS campaigner David Hickson. |
| 14 Sep 09 | newsarse.com | NHS premium phone lines 'barely arousing' say men | | The use of premium phone rates for people contacting the NHS in England is to be banned, following surveys in which men claimed they were barely arousing. |
| 14 Sep 09 | Yorkshire Evening Post | Leeds GP welcomes move to halt 'premium' calls | | A LEEDS GP today welcomed the Government's surprise move to ban the use of NHS numbers which charge a premium rate. |
| 14 Sep 09 | This is Gloucestershire | Gloucestershire patients welcome the news NHS premium rate numbers are to be dropped. | | Patients in Gloucestershire are celebrating after the Government scrapped all premium rate phone lines in the NHS. |
| 14 Sep 09 | E-gov Monitor | Herefordshire Ahead of National Ban On Premium Rate Numbers for Healthcare | | NHS Herefordshire, the leader for healthcare in the county, has confirmed that it moved ahead of the just announced national ban on the use of phone numbers that charge a premium rate to contact the NHS. |
| 14 Sep 09 | This is Lincolnshire | Sixteen county GP surgeries whose telephone numbers begin with 084 will be charged local rates | | Patients at 16 Lincolnshire GP surgeries will only need to pay the rate of a local call when dialling their doctor. The surgeries use an 084 number... |
| 14 Sep 09 | Fenland Today | Wisbech surgery to review call service following ban | | Wisbech surgery to review call service following ban - A WISBECH doctor's surgery has promised to look into its patients' call service following a government announcement banning the use of premium rate numbers by NHS organisations. |
| 14 Sep 09 | Worcester News | Counties’ 084 numbers have been changed | | HEALTH bosses in Worcestershire and Hereford-shire say they have led the way in axing premium rate telephone numbers for contacting health services before the Government bans them. |
| 14 Sep 09 | Which? News | Which? scores a win on cost of calling your GP | | Patients should pay no more to call their GP or other NHS services than they would to call a geographic (01 or 02) number, the Department of Health (DH) has said. |
| 14 Sep 09 | politics.co.uk | Doubts remain as NHS premium rates numbers scrapped | | There are fears GPs could face a funding shortfall after the governments decision to abandon premium rate phone numbers for NHS organisations. |
| 14 Sep 09 | MoneySavingExpert News | GPs to be banned from using premium rate phone lines | | Expensive phone numbers are to be outlawed across the NHS, the Government has announced |
| 14 Sep 09 | Emergency Services News | Premium NHS phone charges abolished | | The use of premium phone rates for people contacting the NHS in England is to be banned, the government has said. Currently, many NHS organisations use |
| 14 Sep 09 | Metro.co.uk | 40p-a-min calls to GPs are banned | | 40p-a-min calls to GPs are banned...Doctors will no longer be allowed to charge patients premium rates for phone calls to surgeries. |
| 14 Sep 09 | icseftonandwestlancs | Ban on pricey calls | | PREMIUM rate phone numbers are to be banned across the NHS. - Business news for Sefton and West Lancs |
| 14 Sep 09 | Cambridge News | Number's up for costly phone calls to doctors | | |
| 14 Sep 09 | BBC NEWS | Health | NHS premium rate calls are banned | | The use of premium phone rates for people contacting the NHS in England is to be banned, the government says. |
| 14 Sep 09 | David Hickson Media Release | NHS TO BAN USE OF PREMIUM RATE CALL CHARGES - 2 | | After reviewing the full material and some of the reactions, I have:
A sense of déjà vu |
| 14 Sep 09 | Healthcare Republic | DoH bans practice premium rate numbers | | GP contracts will be amended to include a ban on the use of phone lines that charge patients premium rates, the DoH has announced. |
| 14 Sep 09 | hc2d.co.uk | NHS premium rate numbers ban | | Government says it will ban premium phone charges for patients calling the health service in England. |
| 14 Sep 09 | E-Health Insider | DH bans use of premium rate phone number | | The Department of Health has announced that the use of premium rate phone numbers in the NHS is to be banned. |
| 14 Sep 09 | Nursing in Practice | Premium-rate NHS phone lines banned | | Patients will no longer have to pay over the odds to get in touch with doctors and hospitals as premium-rate phone numbers are to be scrapped for all NHS services. |
| 14 Sep 09 | bjhcim | Department of Health bans premium rate phone calls for public to access NHS services | | The Department of Health has banned the use of phone numbers that charge the public or patients a premium rate to contact the NHS. |
| 14 Sep 09 | The Register | No more premium rate numbers for docs (Press 3 for a snotty receptionist) | | |
| 14 Sep 09 | Times Online | NHS to end premium-rate telephone call charges for patients | | Charges under which patients pay more than the cost of a local call from a landline are being scrapped in England after a consultation. |
| 14 Sep 09 | mirror.co.uk | NHS chiefs to ban 084 rip-off calls | | High-cost phone numbers in the NHS will be banned by the Government. |
| 14 Sep 09 | Telegraph | NHS must not charge more than local rate for phone calls: ministers | | Premium rate phone numbers are to be banned in the NHS after a fierce campaign by patients, ministers have announced. |
| 14 Sep 09 | Mail Online | Whitehall pulls the plug on GPs costly 0845 phone lines | | Doctors are to be banned from charging premium rates to ring their surgeries, say ministers. Up to a fifth of 8,000 GP practices in England flout Government guidance by using 0844 and 0845 numbers. |
| 14 Sep 09 | Newswire Article | Changes to charges for 084 numbers is fairer for patients, says BMA | | |
| 14 Sep 09 | David Hickson Media Release | NHS TO BAN USE OF PREMIUM RATE CALL CHARGES - 0 | | This is the full briefing and commentary issued subject to the embargo on publication prior to 00:01 on Monday 14 September of the Department of Health media release.... |
| 14 Sep 09 | Network Europe Group | NHS free to choose 084 numbers for local patients | | |
| 14 Sep 09 | NDS / Department of Health | NHS to ban use of premium rate call charges | | The use of phone numbers that charge the public or patients a premium rate to contact the NHS are to be banned in England, Health Minister Mike O'Brien announced today. |
| 14 Sep 09 | Department of Health | The use of 084 telephone numbers in the NHS: Department of Health response to consultation | | This is the Department's response to the recent consultation document which sought views from all interested parties on the use of 084 numbers in the NHS. This document sets out proposed action as a result of the consultation. |
| 13 Sep 09 | David Hickson Media Release | NHS TO BAN USE OF PREMIUM RATE CALL CHARGES - 1 | | I am now free to publish my comments on the announcement entitled:
NHS TO BAN USE OF PREMIUM RATE CALL CHARGES |
| 11 Sep 09 | David Hickson Media Release | Expecting an imminent announcement by the Department of Health | | Pending an imminent announcement of the outcome of the consultation by the Department of Health into a proposal to ban use of revenue sharing 084 telephone numbers in the NHS, I ... |
| 11 Sep 09 | NHS.Patient | Expecting an imminent announcement by the Department of Health | | Pending an imminent announcement of the outcome of the consultation by the Department of Health into a proposal to ban use of revenue sharing 084 telephone numbers in the NHS, I ... |
| 30 Aug 09 | David Hickson Media Release | NHS GPs using 0844 numbers can change to 0344 | | Talk Talk confirms that NHS GPs using 0844 numbers can change to 0344 to comply with the forthcoming ban |
| 30 Aug 09 | NHS.Patient | NHS GPs using 0844 numbers can change to 0344 | | Talk Talk confirms that NHS GPs using 0844 numbers can change to 0344 to comply with the forthcoming ban
We are promised a ministerial announcement on the outcome of ... |
| 29 Aug 09 | NHS.Patient | Who “profits” from revenue sharing telephone numbers | | Defenders of the use of revenue sharing telephone numbers commonly deny "profit" or "receiving income". These comments address that issue. |
| 27 Aug 09 | NHS.Patient | BT charges may vary from others | | It is common practice for users of revenue sharing telephone numbers to quote a charge levied by BT, accompanied by the statement “other providers may vary” ... |
| 26 Aug 09 | NHS.Patient | Tax credits boss orders: Keep callers on the line | | My involvement in the issue of revenue sharing telephone numbers is not restricted to the NHS. I offer the following observations on a closely related issue. These words are derived … |
| 26 Aug 09 | David Hickson Media Release | NHS phone calls - GP premium rates to end, but when? - the BMA says "later", or "never" - TALK TALK holds the key | | In January 2008, Health Secretary Alan Johnson announced “I will end GP call charges”. It now falls to Andy (“welovetheNHS”) Burnham and Mike (“free more often than not”) O`Brien to fulfil this promise. |
| 20 Aug 09 | NHS.Patient | Looking forward to the end of use of 084 numbers in the NHS | | We are promised that at some unspecified time in September, "the Minister", perhaps Mike O'Brien, or the Secretary of State for Health, Andy Burnham, will make an announcement. … |
| 18 Aug 09 | David Hickson Media Release | Don't just "love the NHS", look after it - An open message to Dr Hamish Meldrum, Chairman of the BMA | | Dr Meldrum As a campaigner against all use of revenue sharing telephone numbers by NHS providers, I am delighted to read your press release “Don't just ‘love the NHS’, look after it, BMA tells politicians” |
| 16 Aug 09 | David Hickson Media Release | Misuse of revenue sharing telephone numbers by the government | | A quick campaign status update covering three areas of concern. |
| 16 Aug 09 | NHS.Patient | David Hickson's NHS Patient Blog | | Having been involved in public compaigning activites on matters of general public concern for some years, I have decided that now is the time to get into blogging. I contribute … |
| 14 Aug 09 | David Hickson Media Release | OUR BELOVED NHS | | We love the NHS because of the unique principles that distinguish it from any other healthcare system. The key principle is “free at the point of need”, being funded (almost exclusively) through progressive taxation. |
| 31 Jul 09 | BBC 5Live - Wake Up to Money | 31 Jul 09 - BBC 5Live - Wake Up to Money - End of 0870 | | Interview covering the removal of revenue sharing from calls to 0870 numbers, whilst the problem still remains |
| 9 Jul 09 | Rebecca Smith - Daily Telegraph | Dial 111 for urgent medical care under consideration | | Dial 111 for urgent medical care under consideration |
| 9 Jul 09 | Sean Poulter - Daily Mail | Dial 111 if you're not quite ill enough to call 999 and don't mind paying | | Dial 111 if you're not quite ill enough to call 999 and don't mind paying |
| 16 Jun 09 | Andrew Slaughter MP (in debate) | Public Bill Committee: Health Bill [Lords]: Clause 2 (16 Jun 2009) | | Andrew Slaughter: ...that the issue is fresh in his mind, because during the short adjournment he was engaged with one of my constituents, Mr. David Hickson, who is involved in an assiduous campaign against the use of 084 numbers. I will ask my question in two parts. First, is there any conflict between what the constitution states in relation to services being provided free of charge and the profit that is ... |
| 16 Jun 09 | Parliament | 16 Jun 09 - Parliament - Commons committee on the Health Bill | | Discussion of the relevance of premium rate telephone numbers to the NHS Constitution |
| 16 Jun 09 | Andrew Slaughter MP (in debate) | Public Bill Committee: Health Bill [Lords]: Clause 2 (16 Jun 2009) | | Andrew Slaughter: On subcontractors, I wonder whether my right hon. and learned Friend can help me on the issue of telephone services. I know that the issue is fresh in his mind, because during the short adjournment he was engaged with one of my constituents, Mr. David Hickson, who is involved in an assiduous campaign against the use of 084 numbers. I will ask my question in two parts. First, is there any... |
| 16 Jun 09 | Mike O'Brien MP (in debate) | Public Bill Committee: Health Bill [Lords]: Clause 1 (16 Jun 2009) | | Mike O'Brien: The core principle of the NHS “that it is funded by the taxpayer to ensure that the provision of healthcare is available when it is needed, sometimes with a charge, but more often without”must remain intact. |
| 15 Jun 09 | Alison Dayani - Birmingham Mail | Health trust helps patients save money with 084 campaign | | Health trust helps patients save money with 084 campaign |
| 10 Jun 09 | Steve Nowottny - Pulse | DH delays 084 decision after 'huge response' | | DH delays 084 decision after 'huge response' |
| 19 May 09 | E-Health Insider | Call centres face 084 number inquiry | | Call centres run by central government have been given until the end of June to submit information on their use of 084 and 087 numbers ahead of likely guidance on a public sector strategy for telephone number ranges. |
| 6 May 09 | Department of Health | (Update) Ben Bradshaw promises quick decision on 084 numbers | | Following the 31 March end of the consultation on the use of 084 numbers in primary medical care, the minister for health Ben Bradshaw has issued a statement promising rapid analysis of the responses and news of a decision as soon as possible. |
| 5 May 09 | E-Health Insider | DH delays 084 number decision | | The Department of Health has delayed making a decision on whether it should ban the use of 084 numbers in the NHS in England. |
| 22 Apr 09 | Sarah Cliss - Fenland Citizen | £5 phone bill to make doctor's appointment | | £5 phone bill to make doctor's appointment |
| 6 Apr 09 | Jonn Elledge - Healthcare Republic | Petition urges ban of 08 numbers in NHS | | Almost 12,000 people have signed a petition calling on the government to ban 08 telephone numbers from the health service. |
| 31 Mar 09 | David Hickson | Response to consultation - The use of 084 telephone numbers in the NHS | | 1 - The background to the consultation and the information presented therein. 2 - Answers to the specific questions (slightly modified). 3 - Comments on the way forward for the Department of Health |
| 31 Mar 09 | NEG (Comments by David Hickson) | NEG response to DH consultation - 084 numbers in Primary Care | | I link to and comment on content of the published NEG response to the DH conssultation - "084 numbers in Primary Care" |
| 31 Mar 09 | BMA (Comments by David Hickson) | BMA response to the Consultation | | I publish and comment on a BMA publication - "The use of 084 telephone numbers in the NHS: DH consultation" |
| 11 Mar 09 | correspondent - Pulse | Good riddance to 084 surgery phone lines | | Good riddance to 084 surgery phone lines |
| 27 Feb 09 | Islington Tribune | Costly calls to doctors | | Costly calls to doctors |
| 27 Feb 09 | Dominic Howell - Newark Advertiser | Surgeries’ call costs criticised | | Surgeries' call costs criticised |
| 24 Feb 09 | E-Health Insider | BMA says 084 must run its course | | GP practices using 084 telephone numbers must be allowed to serve out the terms of their contracts with telephone suppliers if the government decides to ban them from the NHS, the British Medical Association has said. |
| 24 Feb 09 | Steve Nowottny - Pulse | BMA: GPs must be allowed to use 084 numbers | | BMA: GPs must be allowed to use 084 numbers |
| 23 Feb 09 | Neil Durham - Healthcare Republic | GPC says practices must be exempt from 084 ban | | GPC says practices must be exempt from 084 ban |
| 21 Feb 09 | Helen Woods - Northumberland Gazette | Counting the cost of calling | | Counting the cost of calling |
| 17 Feb 09 | Leicester Mercury | One phone number for all city hospitals | | One phone number for all city hospitals |
| 13 Feb 09 | Healthcare Republic | Calls to NHS Direct cost patients £1m | | Patients have paid more than £1m in call charges to NHS Direct, research suggests |
| 10 Feb 09 | Ryan McCarthy - Braintree and Witham Times | Kelvedon: Council says 'have your say on 084' | | Kelvedon: Council says 'have your say on 084' |
| 10 Feb 09 | Colchester Evening Gazette | Campaign to say “no to 084” | | Campaign to say “no to 084” |
| 26 Jan 09 | Neil Durham - Healthcare Republic | Pharmacists back ban on practices' 084 numbers | | Pharmacists back ban on practices' 084 numbers |
| 12 Jan 09 | Jonn Elledge - Healthcare Republic | BT scraps charges for practices' 0845 numbers | | BT scraps charges for practices' 0845 numbers |
| 12 Jan 09 | OnMedica | BT drops practices 0845 phone number charges | | BT drops practices 0845 phone number charges |
| 11 Jan 09 | BBC South East Today | NHS Health Centres 08 numbers | | NHS Health Centres 08 numbers |
| 9 Jan 09 | Urmee Khan - Daily Telegraph | Calls to doctors made free as BT scrap 0870 and 0845 charges | | Calls to doctors made free as BT scrap 0870 and 0845 charges |
| 9 Jan 09 | Sean Poulter - Daily Mail | BT scraps charges on 0870 and 0845 numbers for calls to GPs | | BT scraps charges on 0870 and 0845 numbers for calls to GPs |
| 9 Jan 09 | Katie Baldwin - Yorkshire Evening Post | NHS phone charge fees to be scrapped | | NHS phone charge fees to be scrapped |
| 9 Jan 09 | Pulse | BT call charges cut may help GPs | | BT call charges cut may help GPs |
| 8 Jan 09 | BBC Radio West Midlands | 8 Jan 09 - BBC Radio West Midlands - 0845 calls in BT packages | | Interview following the BT announcement that 0845 and 0870 calls would be included in packages |
| 8 Jan 09 | BBC 5Live | 8 Jan 09 - BBC 5Live - 0845 calls in BT packages | | Interview following the BT announcement that 0845 and 0870 calls would be included in packages |
| 6 Jan 09 | E-Health Insider | NHS Direct's 68 revenue sharing numbers | | NHS Direct has almost 70 revenue-sharing telephone lines in addition to the 0845 number for its health advice line, a Freedom of Information Act request has revealed. |
| 6 Jan 09 | Bob Roberts - Daily Mirror | Fury over NHS Direct call charges | | Fury over NHS Direct call charges |
| 6 Jan 09 | Voice of the Mirror - Daily Mirror | The NHS should ditch money-making phone lines | | The NHS should ditch money-making phone lines |
| 27 Dec 08 | Harlow Herald | MP warns surgeries over phone lines | | MP warns surgeries over phone lines |
| 24 Dec 08 | Gloucestershire Echo | Health care's on line for change | | Health care's on line for change |
| 24 Dec 08 | John Siddle - Southport Visitor | Two Southport surgeries in row over costly phone numbers | | Two Southport surgeries in row over costly phone numbers |
| 19 Dec 08 | uSwitch | GP surgeries face ban on 084 numbers | | GP surgeries face ban on 084 numbers |
| 18 Dec 08 | Adam Williams - Kentish Gazette | Teenager's bid to block 08 numbers | | Teenager's bid to block 08 numbers |
| 18 Dec 08 | editorial - Leicester Mercury | GP call costs need to end | | GP call costs need to end |
| 18 Dec 08 | SourceUK.net | Use of 084 numbers in the NHS | | Use of 084 numbers in the NHS |
| 17 Dec 08 | Jonn Elledge - Healthcare Republic | Government may ban practices from using 084 numbers | | Government may ban practices from using 084 numbers |
| 17 Dec 08 | Sarah Hall - Norwich Evening News | Costly calls to doctors could be banned | | Costly calls to doctors could be banned |
| 17 Dec 08 | Whitstable Times | Doctors to cut cost of phone calls | | Doctors to cut cost of phone calls |
| 17 Dec 08 | Derby Evening Telegraph | Chance to have a say on surgery 084 lines | | Chance to have a say on surgery 084 lines |
| 17 Dec 08 | Jayne Davison - money.co.uk | Ministers Considering Ban on Expensive NHS Phone Numbers | | Ministers Considering Ban on Expensive NHS Phone Numbers |
| 17 Dec 08 | Daniel Martin - Daily Mail | Doctors banned from charging patients to ring surgeries | | Doctors banned from charging patients to ring surgeries |
| 17 Dec 08 | Kate Devlin - Daily Telegraph | GPs' surgeries could be banned from using expensive 084 numbers | | GPs' surgeries could be banned from using expensive 084 numbers |
| 16 Dec 08 | YouTube | 16 Dec 2008 Parliament | | Parliamentary "discussion" of the Consultation on banning use of revenue sharing 084 telephone numbers in the NHS |
| 16 Dec 08 | YouTube | 16 Dec 2008 BBC News at One | | BBC News excerpt covering Consultation on banning use of revenue sharing 084 telephone numbers in the NHS |
| 16 Dec 08 | BBC Radio 2 - Jeremy Vine Show | 16 Dec 08 - BBC Radio 2 - Jeremy Vine Show - NHS 084 consultation | | Discussion of Department of Health Consultation on the possible banning of use of revenue sharing telephone numbers in the NHS |
| 16 Dec 08 | BBC Radio 4 | 16 Dec 08 - BBC Radio 4 - NHS 084 consultation | | Debate with advocate of charges for improved NHS services |
| 16 Dec 08 | BBC Radio 4 - Today | Phone line use by GPs reviewed | | Phone line use by GPs reviewed |
| 16 Dec 08 | YouTube | 16 Dec 2008 Breakfast | | Interview with campaigner and representative of Surgery Line supplier following announcement of Consultation on proposal to ban use of 084 telephone numbers by the NHS |
| 16 Dec 08 | Hull / East Riding Daily Mail | Ban on 084 numbers at GP surgeries? | | Ban on 084 numbers at GP surgeries? |
| 16 Dec 08 | Amanda Johnson - Island Pulse (Isle of Wight) | Have Your Say On NHS 084 Numbers | | Have Your Say On NHS 084 Numbers |
| 16 Dec 08 | Steve Nowottny - Pulse | GP surgeries could be forced to ditch 084 numbers | | GP surgeries could be forced to ditch 084 numbers |
| 16 Dec 08 | OnMedica | GP surgeries may be barred from using 084 numbers | | GP surgeries may be barred from using 084 numbers |
| 16 Dec 08 | Nicola Davison - Nursing Times | Government review of use of expensive phone numbers in NHS | | Government review of use of expensive phone numbers in NHS |
| 16 Dec 08 | Netdoctor | Government consults on NHS use of 084 numbers | | Government consults on NHS use of 084 numbers |
| 16 Dec 08 | Management in Practice | GP practices could be stopped from using 084 numbers | | GP practices could be stopped from using 084 numbers |
| 16 Dec 08 | E-Health Insider | Official consultation on 084 numbers | | Official consultation on 084 numbers |
| 16 Dec 08 | Emma Dent - Health Service Journal | Consultation on expensive NHS phone numbers | | Consultation on expensive NHS phone numbers |
| 16 Dec 08 | Jane Dreaper - BBC News Website | Doctors' phone line use reviewed | | Doctors' phone line use reviewed |
| 16 Dec 08 | Ofcom | Ofcom | The 03 alternative | | The issue of revenue-sharing numbers is back in the spotlight after it emerged that NHS in England could be stopped from using 084 numbers. |
| 16 Dec 08 | NEG | NEG welcomes government consultation on enhanced telephony services To GP surgeries | | Press statement published by a newly signed up client |
| 16 Dec 08 | BMA | BMA welcomes consultation on the use of 084 numbers in the NHS | | |
| 16 Dec 08 | Department of Health | Government consults on use of 084 numbers in the NHS | | The NHS could be stopped from using more expensive telephone numbers such as 084 in England, under proposals set out in a public consultation today. |
| 29 Oct 08 | E-Health Insider | (NHS Trusts using revenue sharing numbers) | | NHS Trusts using revenue sharing numbers |
| 28 Oct 08 | Daily Telegraph | Rape victims have to pay when calling for help | | Rape victims have to pay when calling for help |
| 28 Oct 08 | Bob Roberts - Daily Mirror | Rape victims forced to pay for help call | | Rape victims forced to pay for help call |
| 17 Oct 08 | YouTube | 17 Oct 2008 Breakfast (2/3) | | DH Live in studio |
| 17 Oct 08 | YouTube | 17 Oct 2008 Breakfast (1/3) | | Filmed piece featuring Sarah Fogden |
| 1 Oct 08 | E-Health Insider | Trust ditches 0844 number | | Trust ditches 0844 number |
| 27 Sep 08 | Leicester Mercury | Hospitals drop plan to use higher-rate phone lines | | Hospitals drop plan to use higher-rate phone lines |
| 18 Sep 08 | editorial - Leicester Mercury | Please think again on costs of hospital calls | | Please think again on costs of hospital calls |
| 18 Sep 08 | Leicester Mercury | Anger at hospitals' 0844 number | | Anger at hospitals' 0844 number |
| 13 Sep 08 | Marie Levy - Evening Gazette | Calling hospital still costs dear | | Calling hospital still costs dear |
| 9 Sep 08 | E-Health Insider | DH backs away from 084 telephone ban | | DH backs away from 084 telephone ban |
| 13 Aug 08 | Claire Lomax - Bradford Telegraph and Argus | Surgery is now ready to open | | Surgery is now ready to open |
| 5 Aug 08 | E-Health Insider | Hospitals' 084 numbers makes trust £80,000 | | Hospitals' 084 numbers makes trust £80,000 |
| 1 Aug 08 | Don Mort - Wakefield Express | Hospitals made £80,000 on calls | | Hospitals made £80,000 on calls |
| 29 Jul 08 | E-Health Insider | NHS Direct says it has no 0845 plans | | NHS Direct says it has no 0845 plans |
| 14 Jul 08 | Gavin O'Connor - South Wales Echo | Hart to look at GP phone rates cost | | Hart to look at GP phone rates cost |
| 14 Jul 08 | Deborah James - Daily Post (North Wales) | Patients paying extra for GP phone calls | | Patients paying extra for GP phone calls |
| 13 Jul 08 | Bedfordshire on Sunday | Number's up for GPs using costly codes | | Number's up for GPs using costly codes |
| 13 Jul 08 | Gavin O'Connor - Wales on Sunday | Patients ripped off by GP phone charges | | Patients ripped off by GP phone charges |
| 10 Jul 08 | Loughborough News | Health Minister Urges BMA not to Mislead Patients | | Health Minister Urges BMA not to Mislead Patients |
| 2 Jul 08 | Daventry Express | Phone number scrapped after calls from patients | | Phone number scrapped after calls from patients |
| 26 Jun 08 | Paul Fisher - Bedford Today | Doctors' surgeries 'ripping off' patients | | ... with premium rate call lines |
| 19 Jun 08 | The Comet (Hertfordshire) | Phone outrage | | Pensioners complain about hidden cost of health care |
| 18 Jun 08 | Biggleswade Chronicle | Protest over health centre phone changes | | Protest over health centre phone changes |
| 3 Jun 08 | E-Health Insider | DH 'highly unlikely' to ban 084 numbers | | DH 'highly unlikely' to ban 084 numbers |
| 29 May 08 | Mike Waites, Jonathan Reed - Yorkshire Post | Pull plug on rip-off numbers, say phone activists | | Pull plug on rip-off numbers, say phone activists |
| 29 May 08 | comment by 'Joe' - Scotsman | Firms cashing in with costly helpline calls | | Firms cashing in with costly helpline calls |
| 21 May 08 | Marie Levy - Evening Gazette | Hospital made £15,000 from patients | | Hospital made £15,000 from patients |
| 20 May 08 | Evening Gazette | Hospital trust admits to telephone money earner | | Hospital trust admits to telephone money earner |
| 16 May 08 | David Rose - The Times | Hospitals make money on patient phone calls | | Hospitals make money on patient phone calls |
| 15 May 08 | Harlow Herald | No call discounts for patients | | No call discounts for patients |
| 24 Feb 05 | John Hutton, Heath Minister | News Release: Hutton rings the changes on NHS telephone numbers | | The infamous news release in which a ban on use of 087x telephone numbers was announced, but accompanied by the false reference to "'lo-call' rate numbers, which offer patients a guaranteed low call rate". |