Feb 27 2005
Responding to the Department of Health (England) announcement banning the use of higher rate telephone numbers within the NHS, Dr Hamish Meldrum, chairman of the BMA's General Practitioners Committee said:
"The BMA is sympathetic to the view that patients should not be charged over the odds for contacting their family doctor. A relatively small number of GP practices use 0870 numbers, as do some other NHS bodies. Some of the GP practices involved were encouraged to switch to 0870 systems by their primary care organisation. By introducing 0870 telephone systems, practices will have benefited from improved equipment installed with the aim of ensuring patients were able to get through to the practice quickly, deliver their message or request speedily, and in general spend less time on the telephone than with previous systems. We welcome the Government's intention to fund the cost of the change back to lo-call rate systems and this should apply to all affected practices, whatever their telephone system supplier. We look forward to talks with the Department about implementing the new policy in a workable time-frame."