Right, lets start with a multiple choice question. Which phone service costs 40p for the first minute and 26p for every minute thereafter? Is it,
A. Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (it won't be you, stupid)
B. Professional Girls for Professional Men
C. Patientline for NHS patients in hospital.
I am sorry to tell you that the answer is C. This is what is being charged by Patientline; 26p a minute, or to put it in perspective, £2.60 for a ten minute call. Bear in mind that we are told that you cannot use mobile phones in hospitals for fear of interfering with equipment, but you can have an all singing all dancing internet connection, tv and phone- at a price.I'm sure that they will have an inbuilt radio jammer and aluminium lined walls.
Perhaps we should be grateful that the days of patients fighting over 'Stars in Their Eyes' versus Scotsport Highlights in the hospital lounge are over, but everyone seems to be making a profit out of the NHS at the moment except the NHS. I think it's time to phone 'Complaints' or 'Kindly Recommendations' or whatever they're calling it these days.
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3 comments:
Yep, I knew it couldn't be B as that charges £1 per minute for the first 5 and then £2 for every minute after that.
Why's everyone looking at me like that......?!
But seriously, you make a very good point. It's a total scandal. Do you think the SNP and Nic Sturgeon might do something about it?
Incidentally, I'm going for a job next week which would involve managing PFI contracts for a PRIVATE company. I see that I have two options: decide I have no morals and just go for it or take the job and do a bit of sabitage from the inside ;)
Of course, if my prospective employers happen to read this then I can forget about it.
Just thought it was rather ironic given the recent SNP campaign and Alyson Pollack lectures etc etc
They may say that you can't use a mobile in hospital, but in reality people do. As long as it's in the corridor, or away from sensitive equipment, no-one's going to bother you.
Re Patientline, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) issued new advice that a total ban on mobile phones in hospitals "is not necessary". Instead, it recommends that hospitals should "balance the risks of mobile phones interfering with critical devices and the desire for better communication in hospitals".
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