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I've called my grandma in hospital twice over the past couple of days (she's fine: probably home tomorrow) and heard a recorded message telling me that calls to patients through the hospital phone system are charged at 13p a minute. This money goes to Hospedia, a private company.Permalink On Internet Archive
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Hospedia manage phone and television systems for NHS hospitals. It made £21.2m in revenue in 2016 (theguardian.com/society/2017/may/01/critics-slam-rip-off-50p-a-minute-charge-to-call-patients-hospital-phones) and is pretty clearly profiting from elderly people with no other means of communicating with loved ones in hospitals.On Internet Archive
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hospedia.co.uk now redirects to the website of SPARK® TSL which refers to itself as "digitally inclusive technology that enhances patient experience while creating ROI". That ROI of course comes from the worries and concerns of people trying to talk to hospital patients.Permalink On Internet Archive
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Before it was dissolved, the Competition Commission investigated Hospedia and blocked a merger with Premier Telesolutions but Hospedia went on to take over many of Premier's hospital sites and establish itself as a monopolistic provider of NHS hospital phone and TV services.Permalink On Internet Archive
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I'm not worried about paying 13p a minute to talk to my grandma. But I would rather pay more tax so that vulnerable people can call loved ones in hospitals without having to pay additional charges that go to the profits of a semi-monopolistic private company.Permalink On Internet Archive