Concern over cost of calling surgery
A HEALTH watchdog in Northamptonshire could be reformed to chase up patient concerns about phonelines in GP surgeries.
Healthwatch, which helped save Daventry’s Danetre Hospital in the early 1990s, could be reformed following complaints about 0844 phone numbers at Danetre Medical Practice.
The practice switched from an 01327 number to the 0844 one this month, after changing to a more efficient call handling system which is becoming increasingly popular at many surgeries.
It charges patients 5p per minute from a BT landline, but patients are unhappy at having to pay for NHS services.
John Birch, who was heavily involved in the original Healthwatch, said: “The new technology is most helpful, but why should it be funded by patients?”
Mr Birch sad he was considering reforming Healthwatch to tackle the issue as he claimed patients were unwilling to speak out.
Ruth Farthing, manager of Danetre Medical Practice, defended its use of the system, which can handle four calls at once and allows patients to call at any time of the day.
She said: “The new system is expensive to lease and so we have changed our main telephone number to help subsidise the cost.
“We can assure patients that all revenue raised by the new number is to off-set the cost of this new service.”
Other surgeries in Northamptonshire have been told not to sign up to 0844 numbers by the Northamptonshire PCT until more information is collected by the East Midlands Strategic Health Authority.
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