ANNE LEE PLEASED WITH DECISION TO BAN GPs USING 0870 PHONE LINES

The Department of Health has announced a ban on expensive telephone numbers that charge patients over the odds to call NHS services in their area. St John's Health Centre in Woking uses an 0870 number, and patients had complained to Anne Lee (Woking Liberal Democrats Parliamentary Spokesperson) and the local press. Dr Anne Lee started a campaign in December 04 to get this ban introduced.

She said "the ban applies to all GP surgeries using 0870 telephone numbers which are national rate lines. It will come into force in April and each practice will receive £500 to switch from national rate to lo-call numbers.

Anne Lee continued "I am so pleased for patients in Woking that they are now going to be protected from these high rate phone lines. It was not fair that everyone, including the poor, should have to pay charges which the Department of Health estimated to be 7.5p per minute. People could be kept waiting for some considerable time and the charging structure for these phone calls was opaque, at best".

She added "The Liberal Democrats' NHS Inquiry in Woking is getting a massive response. Thousands of forms and letters are coming back all the time. We asked about access to GP surgeries in the Inquiry. An early assessment of responses received so far suggests that 80% of patients are happy with the telephone access to their GP surgeries. There are problems with peak times (especially early Monday morning)."

Anne concluded "I was delighted when one large health centre for Woking contacted me to ask for the Inquiry results so that they could improve their service where possible. This demonstrates a genuine patient service ethic. We will release more information as it becomes available."