Tom Richmond: Premium line calls to GPs are a prescription for unfairness

Despite Ministers and NHS chiefs saying that this is their intention, the response of family doctors continues to be perfunctory at best – presumably because they’re too busy counting their inflated salaries for doing even less out-of-hours work. Its seriousness only came to my attention when I went through the latest phone, broadband and satellite TV bill for Richmond Towers and noted a £13 increase in the past month. I initially thought that the Sky Sports package had gone up in price – it normally does – before I discovered that the rise was in my phone charges. Closer inspection revealed that they were all attributable to one number which began with the 0844 prefix – the local doctor’s surgery. Now you could argue that £13 is a price worth paying if the surgery’s professionalism was top class – it was not – but it is still an awful lot of money to pay out if you’re a seriously ill senior citizen who is wondering whether they can actually afford to telephone their local doctor for an appointment or advice. Yet, when I spoke to the GP about this, he seemed unperturbed. He said the previous practice manager had been sold an all-singing, all-dancing telephone system that proved to be too good to be true. He also said that there was a landline that patients could use at a local BT call rate, but that he did not know the number and that the surgery had no plans to send the relevant details to every patient on its books. It was only grudgingly handed over to this correspondent by a receptionist. Why does this matter? As well as having a detrimental effect on those house-bound people who cannot afford charges of up to 40p a minute, the Guiseley & Yeadon Medical Practice was described as an example of NHS excellence when visited by Gordon Brown during the last election. This is why Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt needs to act. He may say that such matters are now the responsibility of local GPs after they received unprecedented commissioning powers – but this is just the type of issue where there should be national rules. He should order the plug to be pulled on these premium-rate lines within a month – or certainly before the winter when demand for NHS services becomes even greater. SHADOW Transport Secretary Maria Eagle, one of Ed Miliband’s whingers and whiners, inadvertently revealed the bankruptcy of Labour’s economic position when she intervened in the growing furore over the cost of Britain’s HS2 high-speed rail revolution. Even though the current projected cost to the taxpayer is £42.6bn, Eagle has suggested that her party will withdraw all-party support for the scheme – launched, ironically, by the last Labour government – if the final bill threatens to top £50bn. In short, she is content for the final cost to be 20 per cent higher than expected. I suppose this is the type of financial complacency which explains why procurement spending spiralled out of control during the Blair and Brown governments. How about Labour making its support conditional on HS2 being built on time, and on budget, rather than exploiting the controversy to shore up Miliband’s leadership? That would be the responsible thing to do. GODFREY Bloom, Ukip’s outspoken MEP for these parts, has been at it again. He says of the Prime Minister: “I don’t consider myself to be a particularly impressive individual, but if you look at my CV compared with Cameron’s, mine is awesome.” Are we really saying this “alpha male” who offended many with his “Bongo Bongo Land” outburst – and then patronising remarks about those women who complain about wet towels and toilet seats – thinks he can do a better job than David Cameron? Given the foreign policy that this financial economist would pursue, I’m coming to the conclusion that Ukip are incapable of showing the mature leadership that this country requires – and their sole purpose is to make mischief for the Tories, even if this increases the likelihood of Ed Miliband becoming PM. How ironic. TALKING of the next election, David Cameron is already aware that the most likely outcomes are a Labour victory or the Tories entering a second coalition – the Parliamentary boundaries and arithmetic are against an outright Conservative win in 2015. Yet the PM should heed the advice of former Cabinet minister John Redwood, a regular contributor to these pages, who says the European Union is the biggest reason why he dislikes so coalitions so much. “No UK government can now govern the UK as it wishes. So many things are now determined by EU legislation, regulation and controls. The other two main parties in the Commons are federalist parties. It is extremely difficult to reach a sensible agreement with parties that do not want the UK government to be in charge, and meekly accept whatever line comes from Brussels on so many topics,” he says. With next June’s European elections looming, Cameron should take note. POOR Lee Westwood. After failing to cross the finishing line in this year’s major championshops, the golfer could have expected some sporting success with his horse Hoofalong at York’s Ebor festival. It wasn’t to be, the horse blowing a seemingly winning lead in the final furlong. Sounds familiar... TALKING of York, the legendary umpire Dickie Bird was in great form when reunited with the cricket-loving Sir Michael Stoute – the man who trained the Queen’s Estimate to such a famous victory in this summer’s Ascot Gold Cup. As the pair laughed, and played practice shots in the paddock, it prompted observers to suggest that this summer’s Ashes series between England and Australia would not have been so acrimonious and overshadowed by poor umpiring if Barnsley’s greatest had been standing in the middle. I agree. tom.richmond@ypn.co.uk