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Phone groan - lecturer's £160 bill to call mum at Royal Bournemouth Hospital

6:30pm Monday 15th March 2010 in


A LECTURER who racked up a £106 telephone bill ringing his mother in hospital is unhappy that he was repeatedly forced to listen to a pre-recorded announcement... about call charges.

Dr Gordon Downie, a university lecturer in computer science, says that every time he rang his mother at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital he was forced to listen to a 60-second service announcement.

When he rang Hospedia, an external company that provides bedside TV and phone services at the hospital, it was confirmed that his bill was inflated by listening to it.

Dr Downie called for changes to be made, allowing people to skip the announcement, and questioned the high price of ringing relatives in hospital.

He said: “Clearly I was aware that the charges were high but the total cost is made even higher because I repeatedly heard this message.

“During this period I must have listened to this announcement 15 to 20 times.

“There should at least be a mechanism that allows the user to bypass the announcement if they have already heard it.

“My concern is the privatisation and outsourcing of facilities within otherwise state-run organisations.”

A spokesperson for Hospedia said it had a responsibility to ensure people were aware of call charges as stipulated by watchdog Ofcom.

It is also looking at ways to reduce the cost of inbound calls, cut the length of the recorded message, give patients free unlimited outgoing calls and introduce a “skip message” option, she added.

A spokesperson for the Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said that mobile phones are not allowed to be used on the wards but that “the trust is in discussion with Hospedia regarding the upgrade of the bedside terminals and the charging systems to be used”.

Comments(16)

bmbwd says...
6:43pm Mon 15 Mar 10

It seems to have got £54 less in the time it took me to read from the headline to the end of the first paragraph!

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rayc says...
7:39pm Mon 15 Mar 10

A breakdown of what percentage goes to the hospital would be interesting. Perhaps it is like car parking charges which are a nice little earner from a captive client base.

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Skyrah says...
8:36pm Mon 15 Mar 10

"A spokesperson for Hospedia said it had a responsibility to ensure people were aware of call charges as stipulated by watchdog Ofcom."

Surely people should bot be made aware of call charges at their own expense! This is just a disgusting way of milking additional money from people who are likely to be worried about their friends or relatives recovering from illness or operations.

Ok the old system of a portable payphone or ringing the nurses station for an often curt reply to queries was pretty bad, but could there not be some middle ground? Perhaps mobile safe areas on the ward? I do wonder however if there's ever been a recorded issue of mobile phones causing major problems with hospital equipment. Especially as the Spire (used to be BUPA) permitted me to use my mobile phone and wifi internet!

If hospitals need additional funds, perhaps they should be taking contributions toward food served to patients based on how much the patient would be paying to feed themselves if at home?

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Skyrah says...
8:36pm Mon 15 Mar 10

"A spokesperson for Hospedia said it had a responsibility to ensure people were aware of call charges as stipulated by watchdog Ofcom."

Surely people should bot be made aware of call charges at their own expense! This is just a disgusting way of milking additional money from people who are likely to be worried about their friends or relatives recovering from illness or operations.

Ok the old system of a portable payphone or ringing the nurses station for an often curt reply to queries was pretty bad, but could there not be some middle ground? Perhaps mobile safe areas on the ward? I do wonder however if there's ever been a recorded issue of mobile phones causing major problems with hospital equipment. Especially as the Spire (used to be BUPA) permitted me to use my mobile phone and wifi internet!

If hospitals need additional funds, perhaps they should be taking contributions toward food served to patients based on how much the patient would be paying to feed themselves if at home?

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guymanda says...
10:36pm Mon 15 Mar 10

I was recently in hospital where my mobile was banned but contracters performing maintenance in the ward were freely using theirs ! - Seems to me some more investigation is needed to identify why patients mobiles are banned - is it clinical or financial - opportunity for some investigative journalism rather than just reporting !

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Mike Pickering says...
11:57pm Mon 15 Mar 10

Quite clearly this is a disgrace - how on earth did someone decide that it is ethical to source a profit from something as basic and important as speaking to a relative on their sick-bed ?! As much as I realistically
accept the wonderful benefits of the capitalist economy, it is not acceptable to try to reap profits at every turn..whomever is ultimately responsible for allowing this knows darn right full well that this is shady, and a worse example of shuckstering profit-mongering than a motorway breakfast.
(Ironically, I predict* the security word will be 9poundfiftyeggbaconm
ushroomstomatotoast)
..

If the regulations have to inform the user of the costs, then this tariff should be explained at the END of the phone call, not the beginning.


(*it wasn't)

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Azphreal says...
5:10am Tue 16 Mar 10

I thought that the last reported tests showed that mobiles did not effect medical equipment?

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PokesdownMark says...
7:30am Tue 16 Mar 10

I thought that controls on mobiles in hospitals had been eased as there is no evidence of interference with medical equipment. Indeed medical equipment has to be immune to RF interference.
The current hospital phone and TV system is a state created monopoly and is a total disgrace.

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BmthNewshound says...
9:12am Tue 16 Mar 10

The mobile phone rule is just an excuse for the hospital and service provider to make money from their captive market.
My father was recently in Leicester Royal Infirmary where patients are allowed to use their mobile phones providing consideration is given to other patients (ie no phone calls late at night, keeping the volume of ringtones down)

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durotriges says...
9:58am Tue 16 Mar 10

People want low taxes then complain that services are expensive. You can't have it both ways. If you vote for lower taxes then you can't complain when hospitals look around to make up the shortfall in their funds. Demand higher taxes and things like this won't happen.

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Jak Branksome says...
10:24am Tue 16 Mar 10

Anothercase of Hospital management Jobsworths trying to fund their salaries.
Its time we took control back from this government of meddlers.

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Dorset_Born_n_Bread ! says...
10:45am Tue 16 Mar 10

I hate to state the unknown/ignorred fact but.....after government and techie surveys mobile phones are now allowed to be used in hospitals after being seen they do not cause damage to or a damger medical equipment.

I live in Finland Home of NOKIA and Finnish hospitals allow use of mobile phones for patients now this news has been released. So next time give a relative a mobile to use and keep the ring tone on silent-ring not to disturb other people. ;)

Nuff said.

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In Absentia says...
12:06pm Tue 16 Mar 10

Jak Branksome wrote:
Anothercase of Hospital management Jobsworths trying to fund their salaries. Its time we took control back from this government of meddlers.
Brilliant idea, then they can be replaced with a Government that will get waiting lists back to 18 months for basic treatment.

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topofall says...
5:14pm Tue 16 Mar 10

There are no valid reasons that stop mobiles being used in hospitals. I have spent a lot of time in Cromwell Hospital in London (not as a customer) and all staff and public seemed to have phones clamped to their ears! If I was in hospital I would still use my mobile and defy all efforts to stop me!

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fartington says...
7:28pm Tue 16 Mar 10

If mobile phone equipment interferes with hospital equipment, why do so many hospitals have mobile phone masts and units on their roofs ?
I think it is stuff and nonsense so private companies can muscle in and make money, under the pretext of letting the hospital have the crumbs which fall from their table of plenty.

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terry35 says...
1:12pm Wed 17 Mar 10

ok, first of all the hospital make no money from this at all. They also however do not pay for the install or maintanence of the equipment, or pay any of the staffs wages. secondly, the reason phones are not permitted is for privacy, most phones have cameras and or camcorders on them and is breaking the privacy / confidentiality laws. WOuld you like to see pictures of your mum posted on the internet in her gown??? And as for moron who suggests putting charge warnings at the end of a call...doh how is that in line with ofcom rule of notifying the caller beforehand???? Plus you can call out for just 10p per minute or in some hospitals call out unlimited for free. Opinions are great, but please all get your facts straight before you preach and moan.

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