Will Doctors Continue to use Premium Rate Numbers?

It has been ruled that doctors operating in the United Kingdom will be ‘in breach of contract’ if they do not make the move to remove premium rate phone numbers from their systems. Currently a large number of doctors’ surgeries use premium rate numbers as the contact information for their patients.

Three years ago it was ruled that GPs could no longer use premium rate phone numbers for their patients to contact the surgery. Now there will be stricter penalties for those who do not comply. All practices were given one calendar year to make the various changes that needed to be installed in order to change their services, but it has emerged that around 8% of surgeries are still operating a premium rate phone service.

With the number sitting at around 1 in 10 of the 700 odd surgeries that operate through the UK, it is clear why it is now, three years later that the crackdown is being pushed. It has been ruled unreasonable that patients should have to call premium rate numbers in order to secure an appointment with your GP. Hence the revised rules that will penalise these surgeries.

In addition to all of this, it has been revealed that the main provider of premium rate numbers for doctors’ surgeries, Daisy Communications agreed to make any alterations necessary for them to comply with the guidelines without the surgery experiencing any contractual penalties. This in particular has added an unsavoury edge to the whole proceedings as it appears that the surgeries have no legitimate reason for not changing their practise.

Part of this new wave of the crackdown includes abolishing some of the myths around the contractual obligations that many GPs have assumed they are tied into. Thus ensuring that they cannot continue to use that excuse and operate premium rate phone numbers.

Led by the Consumer Minister Jo Swinson, this battle is one that needs to be finished off clinically. The use of premium rate numbers in this situation is unethical and her campaign to remove premium rate numbers from circulation is essentially summarised by these new restrictions.

Premium rate numbers offer a range of options in terms of the services that the caller can become privy to when they call. These include interactive voice response systems and queuing systems so that companies can manage the calls that are coming in as opposed to simply charging a fortune for the privilege of calling the number.