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18|01|06

Ofcom refers price of hospital calls for review by Department of Health

Ofcom today closed its investigation into the price of telephone calls to hospital patients with a recommendation that the Department of Health ('DoH') review all aspects of the installation and operation of bedside telephone and entertainment systems in hospitals. The DoH review should include the way in which the cost of providing these services appears to be borne disproportionately by friends and family calling patients in hospital.

Ofcom opened its investigation in July 2005 following complaints from consumers about the prices charged by Patientline and Premier for calls to hospital patients (in most cases, 49p per minute peak and 39p per minute off-peak). Ofcom has also looked at the use of a recorded message at the start of these calls, and the exclusivity and length of agreements between NHS Trusts, Patientline and Premier.

Ofcom’s investigation has identified that high call prices are a result of a complex web of Government policy and agreements between the providers, the NHS and individual NHS Trusts.

In line with Office of Fair Trading (OFT) guidelines on investigations into issues resulting from Government policy, Ofcom has today written to the Secretary of State for Health, setting out its ongoing concerns and recommendations for the DoH.

As a consequence of Ofcom's investigation, the DoH, Patientline and Premier have committed to explore how they can offer communication services to hospital patients without charging such high prices for incoming calls. All three parties have already agreed to consider the insertion of a skip facility during the recorded message at the start of each call, enabling repeat callers to skip the message and reduce the cost of the call.

In the light of the above, Ofcom has decided to await the outcome of these discussions rather than reach final conclusions about individual agreements in relation to competition law at this stage.

The updated Competition Bulletin and Case Closure statement are available from the Related Items at the top right of this page.

Ends.

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