GP practices using 084 telephone numbers must be allowed to serve out the terms of their contracts with telephone suppliers if the government decides to ban them from the NHS, the British Medical Association has said.
In its response to the current consultation on 084 numbers, the BMA has told the Department of Health that it would support a voluntary switch for practices to revert to local numbers.
However, it said it was concerned that many surgeries using 084 numbers had signed up to a long contract, so that even if they wanted to change they would be unable to do so immediately.
The consultation was launched in December after growing concern that patients were subsidising the NHS by calling revenue sharing telephone numbers, which are used by approximately 1,500 GP practices in the UK as well as some hospitals and primary care trusts.
Health minister Ben Bradshaw said that while some members of the public valued the additional services provided by 084 numbers, others objected to being charged more than the cost of a local call to contact NHS services.
In its response, the BMA said it believed people should be charged as low a cost as possible to call the NHS, but hat this had to be balanced by the quality of service they were accessing.
It added: “Many practices value the extra functions that a number such as 084 and 03 can provide, as they want to improve access to patients by providing telephone numbers with extra functionality.”
The BMA claimed the DH and PCTs had actively encouraged practices to adopt the systems that 084 numbers can provide to improve access.
The response adds: “Practices should not be penalised for following the Department’s advice, and as they brokered a deal with the companies before to move them from the old 0870 numbers to 0844, they should be able to do so again by supporting a move back to local numbers.”
The doctors’ association said it welcomed BT’s decision to allow 0845 numbers to be free within their call packages.
The BMA said the government could encourage all telephone companies to review their call charges to NHS services, and include 084 numbers in comprehensive call packages so that patients did not incur additional costs.
The closing date for responses to the consultation is 31 March. The government has pledged to publish a response by the end of April 2009.
Related article: Official consultation on 084 numbers