Johnson steps up pressure on 0844 numbers

Health secretary Alan Johnson has stepped up the pressure on practices using 0844 telephone numbers as campaigners draw up a list of more than 800 surgeries with such numbers.

The health secretary, who is MP for Hull and Hessle West, criticised the use of 0844 numbers in his local paper as the Department of Health’s consultation on use of the numbers ends this month.

Practices have switched to 0844 numbers as part of schemes which provide them with more modern telecoms systems and the BMA claims that many practices using 084 numbers are often able to deal with their calls more efficiently and quickly, therefore costing patients less overall. However patients will normally pay 5p per minute when using such numbers compared to lower local call costs which may also be free as part of telephone call packages. The DH wants to see greater use of new 03 numbers which cost the same as a local geographic call number.

Earlier this month Mark Britnell, commissioning director, wrote to PCTs instructing them to issue an alert to practices over the investigation into 084 numbers.

He told PCTs that the investigation would conclude by the end of this month and the government would then decide if further action was necessary.

He added: “I would like to re-iterate the government’s position that patients should not be expected to pay more than the equivalent of a local call, and ask you to consider what action would be necessary to ensure that this is achieved. This will be particularly relevant to primary care service providers who are considering contracting or re-contracting for the provision of an 084 number system.”

Johnson told the Hull Daily Mail “We don’t want to have a service here where we tell GPs who are all privately employed how to run their businesses. But what we do is we send out guidance and the guidance we have recently sent out was very clear about not using these 084 numbers."

The current consultation is a result of an adjournment debate held in January on the use of 084 numbers in which health minister Ivan Lewis said that it was “entirely unacceptable” for patients to be charged more than the local rate for contacting their GP surgery. Graham Stuart MP told the House of Commons that as many as 1500 practices use 084 numbers.

Mr Johnson told the Hull Daily Mail: "We are having this consultation and the clear inference there is that if we have to take further measures, we will, because we want to get them to move across to these 03 numbers."

In the meantime campaigner David Hickson, who previously led a campaign to prevent companies making ‘silent’ telemarketing calls, has drawn up a list of 807 surgeries in England which use 084 numbers, compiling the information from the NHS Choices website.

He has made the list available to MPs and some local newspapers have used it to publicise the names of practices using 084 telephone numbers. Hickson’s lists shows Leeds PCT has the greatest number of practices using 0844 numbers, a total of 27, while Calderdale PCT has the greatest percentage of practices using 0844 numbers, a total of 33%.

Hickson believes that use of such numbers breaches clause 483 of the GMS contract which prohibits receipt of remuneration from patients and says Alan Johnson also backed that view in the House of Commons debate in November.

He told EHI Primary Care: “GPs must use the best technology and systems available to provide the best possible service to patients within their budget. Service improvements cannot however be used as an excuse for departing from the fundamental principle that NHS services are provided "free at the point of need".

Last month the BMA’s GP committee advised practices using 084 numbers that they need to publicise their use of such numbers and the costs involved on practice leaflets.