9:33am Wednesday 23rd May 2007
A group of GP surgeries insist calls to its new telephone system are charged at under 5p a minute despite claims from patients that they have been billed at six times that figure.
The Argyle Medical Group was formed following the amalgamation of the St Oswald's Surgery in Pembroke and the Laws Street and Dimond Street practices in Pembroke Dock.
The group had been experiencing problems with the telephone system set up to handle calls from the large number patients who use the three practices.
One man claimed the combination of a lengthy queuing system, a problem which has now been resolved, and calls charged at 30p a minute left him with a bill for £3.25 for a single call.
The company which runs the telephone system has reimbursed the patient, but doesn't accept that the 0844 numbers are charged at 30p a minute.
"The rate of calls for 0844 numbers from a land-line is fixed by OfCom, the regulatory body for telecoms, at 4.2p plus VAT per minute,'' said a spokesman for the Surgery Line Team.
"Calls from mobiles and payphones are higher, but will be the same as when calling the old surgery 01646 number.'' The company has admitted that a technical issue' immediately after the system had been installed had kept callers on hold even though the lines were clear.
Patients had reported significant difficulties getting through to staff to make appointments and secure prescriptions.
Practice manager Juliet Goldsworthy said these issues had now been resolved: "It is a whole lot better.
"We have 30 lines coming in with more staff to deal with calls.
"Patients have been really quite tolerant and we are very grateful to them for bearing with us,'' she said.
The Surgery Line Team promised to continue monitoring the situation to ensure problems did not reoccur.
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