Patientline - fucking robbing bastards, sinking further into debt

Patientline, the Slough based, monopolistic racketeers and hospital phone and television providers, announced on 26th June 2007 that Y/E March 31st 2007 they had racked up losses of £30 Mn, narrowly beating last years loss of £23.8 Mn., onn revenues down from £47.8 Mn to £43 Mn. The shares @ 1.75p show a market capitalisation of £1.28Mn.(Feb 13, 2004 = 162.00p )

With total Debt standing at £77Mn Patientline is negotiating a hefty debt-for - equity swap with it's bankers (Barclays ?) to reduce its debt levels.Making a virtue out of necessity today, commercial director Charlotte Brown announces the cost of calls to and from hospitals by/to patients would return to the Tariff operated until April. Calls from bedside consoles (which never get cleaned) will fall from 26p to 10p a minute. The minimum call charge will be cut from 40p to 10p.

However, the cost of calling a patient in hospital remains at 49p a minute during peak periods and 39p a minute between 6pm and 8am and at weekends. An unskippable recorded message, necessarily lengthens and increases these already exorbitant charges.

In April, the company cut the cost of watching beside television from £3.50 a day to £2.90 a day. The new price also included internet, email and games, which were previously charged separately.

Charlotte Brown has the gall to call this the 2nd price reduction this year ! She is quoted saying today, "'The price cut is testament to our dedication to making people's stay in hospital easier, by offering customers some of the entertainment and communication choices they would enjoy at home,' Ho.Ho.Ho.

Should you, or anyone you know be in hospital there is absoluteley nothing the hospital can do to prevent you using your own mobile - The energy level of it's signal represents no threat to any hospital equipment - unlike the spanking brand new emergency services Tetra network. The Government Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), responsible for medical safety, states that there are no technical reasons why mobile phones should be banned outright from hospitals, only in critical care areas. The vast majority of ward beds do not fall into this category. See their web page for details "Mobile communications interference"

Some hospitals maintain a ban - The only reason to maintain a blanket ban on wards is to protect the monopoly for Patientline and similar companies. Simply tell them to fuck off or call a policeman.

Those with a none too long a memory may recall the company installed Colin Babb as CEO in February 2006 , a man witha colourfal past, he had previously been director of EXY, which was put into administration in February 2005, and of AC+DC Technical Services, which was placed into liquidation in May 2001.

Others may wish to consider what Craig Murray wrote about one of the founders of these 21st century highwaymen on his blog April 27th 2007

"Alan Langlands has questions to answer. After retiring in August 2000 as Chief Executive of the NHS, in March 2001 he quickly reemerged as a Director of Patientline, the disgraced rip-off company which enjoys a monopoly of patient personal communications in the NHS. They charge the ill - who are disproportionately poor and elderly ..... Sir Alan Langlands was a Director of Patientline when I was in Westminster Hospital for two months in Autumn 2003 and unable to talk to Nadira as Patientline phones won't call, or receive from, Uzbekistan. He resigned in 2004."

Sir Alan Langlands is Principal of Dundee University where Craig is currently the student elected rectum as well as a cionsiderable thorn in the flesh of this Government and author of an excellent book "Murder in Samarkand", shortly coming to your local cinema.

You could also benefit from reading about the dishonest sales practices Patientline staff are trained to use, to drum up business with sick and vulnerable people "Your target : Sell to sick people"

There are two other providers of these monopolistic services: Premier charges 10p a minute for outbound calls, and the same as Patientline for incoming calls (so no price fixing there then) . HTS Hospicom is slightly cheaper at 10p a minute to a UK landline, and 30p for incoming calls. Patients pay £3 per day for TV service, although this is free on children's wards.