Patientline, the company that attracted a storm of criticism from patient groups for the high price of hospital bedside telephone calls, said yesterday that it was in danger of collapsing.

In a statement, the company said: “If the current revenue trends continue, then the liquidity position will become increasingly tight towards the end of this calendar year.”

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/to...cle2554272.ece

GOOD

A victory for common sense.

It's one thing to charge patients to make calls. Sort of fair enough if the price is reasonable.

It's one thing to charge them to watch tv, again as long as the price is right.

But to charge patients to RECEIVE calls is totally outragous. A company with poor ethics like this deserves to be boycotted and deserves to go bust.

Just my humble opinion.

They have also been lobbying hospitals to stop people using mobiles in wards. It is now officially fine to use them except in 'sensitive areas' presumably where there is a lot of important equipment or pacemaker patients. When my dad was in recently a nurse made an announcement when someone's phone went off that it was fine but to keep them on silent and that patientline was a rip off.

There's no risk to using a mobile, we even used a 3g phone in ITU with the permission of the staff and consultants to make a 3g video call. I believe they have done studies and found no risk.

Totally agree.


Actually there IS a risk.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6980057.stm
Welcome to the news.

That's quite recent, new to me. I'm happy to be corrected. I can't imagine how they do interfere, but wow, that's all I can say.

Place a mobile by a TV or monitor and the picture shakes when the mobile is informing the cell of its state, same when it's about to ring. Have your mobile by the radio or landline phone and you can hear it interfere.

A %-age of life critical equipment in use isn't fully shielded against the interference from mobile phones.

And another here. A victory for every patient in an NHS hospital if the thing does go belly up. Hopefully the investors will lose millions
in the process.