£11 for phoning elderly Mum in hospital as calls made to cut charges

People are calling for phone charges at hospitals to be reduced after a woman was charged £11 for phoning her elderly Mum in Southport Hospital.

Irene Simpkin said she called her  87-year-old mother Odile, who has been in Southport and Formby District General Hospital for almost a fortnight after suffering multiple pelvis and hip fractures in a fall.

Visitors are currently banned from visiting relatives in Southport Hospital and Ormskirk Hospital due to the ongoing coronavirus epidemic, except in a couple of circumstances.

On Saturday, Ms Simpkins made a 16-minute call to her mother and was charged £11.33.

She told the BBC: “I thought that it was flipping outrageous, just horrendous. I just think it’s very, very greedy.”

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“There are so many people making concessions, why do these companies continue to cash in?

“While all this is going on, can they not just make some sort of a deal where they cut those costs?”

The Justice Secretary has asked Hospedia to temporarily drop its charges.

The company is yet to respond.

Irene Simpkin contacted her MP, West Lancashire’s Rosie Cooper, after her call.

Rosie Cooper says that she contacted Southport & Ormskirk NHS Hospitals Trust after the incident regarding Hospedia, which operates bedside phones and TVs at both hospital sites.

The MP said the Trust asked the firm to reduce its charges during the Covid-19 pandemic, due to the restrictions on visitors and increased anxiety of hospital patients and their families.

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But she claims that Hospedia has since indicated that they would charge the Trust £10,000 per month.

Rosie Cooper said: “I am absolutely disgusted by the actions of heartless Hospedia.

“Businesses up and down the country are bending over backwards to support the effort, restaurants providing free meals, launderettes washing NHS workers’ clothes for free, but here we have Hospedia charging premium rates for phone calls to inpatients and offering to take the charge off the public but only in return for £10,000 per month from the hospital! The NHS should end the contract with Hospedia as soon as possible.

“I have brought this to the attention of the Health Secretary demanding that he urgently intervene so that families can get to speak to their loved ones who are in hospital without the worry of overly expensive phone bills.”

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Hospedia has so far declined to comment.

Rosie Cooper said: “Hospedia have refused to comment but we can only presume they aren’t too happy with the public reaction as they have now deleted their Twitter account.”

On their website,Hospedia says: “Whatever you may have heard, patients can always make calls free of charge (to 01, 02 and 03 numbers and mobiles).

“Hospedia charges 13p per minute to call a patient’s phone. This is to cover running costs for 60,000 units in 130 hospitals by 200 staff. Charges over 13p per minute are made by your network operator and not received by Hospedia.

“TV is free from 8am till 12pm on adult wards, and from 7am till 7pm on children’s wards, every day.”