Patients fleeced by hospital phone and parking charges, MPs say

Patients fleeced by hospital phone and parking charges, MPs say

Patients are being systematically ripped off by a whole range of chaotic charges made by the NHS, a committee of MPs says today.

Hospitals are overcharging for car parking and use of telephones, while at the same time the costs of prescriptions, dentistry and eye tests have climbed without any underlying principles, leaving them full of anomalies, a report by the Commons health select committee says.

"The list of exemptions was compiled in 1968 and has not changed," it says of prescription charges. "Given the vast improvements in medical science since that time, it is unacceptable."

The MPs urge the government to carry out a full-scale review to find out the cost and benefits of alternative systems, such as abolishing all existing health charges, or abolishing the prescription charge only.

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The report says that patients who have to visit hospital daily should have all parking provided free, and regular visitors should be given free or reduced-price "season tickets". The Department of Health should also subsidise telephone calls from friends and relatives, who at present pay 49p a minute to speak to patients in hospital beds. Hospitals should also allow patients to use mobile phones within certain areas.

The committee calls for the immediate introduction of a monthly prescription certificate, giving those on lower incomes unlimited prescriptions for £6.65 a month. A full-scale review should consider whether to abolish all health charges, such as those for eye and dental tests, or merely prescription charges.

More controversially, it suggests the government look at whether patients should be charged for missing GP appointments, and non-emergency patients charged for visiting accident and emergency departments, to encourage them to register with their GP.

The report is also critical of a midwifery scheme at Queen Charlotte's hospital, west London, which offers the same midwife throughout pregnancy and birth for a fee of £4,000. With private hospitals charging £7,000 for the same service, the report notes: "The Jentle midwifery scheme provides cut-rate private care within an NHS hospital. This is unacceptable. Essential care of this type should be given to all or paid for privately at full cost."

On parking, the report reveals that hospitals made £78m from parking fees - £63m from visitors and £15m from their own staff - last year. Costs varied widely, with some making up to £2,000 a year per space. Yet the charges, while punitive to patients, account for less than 0.1% of the NHS budget. "It is unacceptable that people have to pay hundreds of pounds to attend for necessary treatment," said the committee chairman, Kevin Barron.

The committee describes the cost of bedside phones as unacceptable but notes that the providers, such as PatientLine and Premier, are not wholly responsible for the problem.

The government had insisted the units be equipped to allow doctors to access the new electronic patient record, allow electronic prescribing and order X-rays, but with hospitals not yet taking up these schemes, private companies have sought to recoup costs through calls. "If the NHS cannot make use of the additional services in the near future, the department should pay the difference in costs between the standard rate and the amount charged. Patients' relatives and friends should not be penalised for the department's failings," the report notes.

A Department of Health spokeswoman said: "We don't agree with the committee that the current prescription system is a mess. We think that hospitals should be able to charge for parking but trusts should not fleece patients unfairly."

Professor John Appleby, chief economist of the King's Fund health thinktank, said: "The system is riddled with inconsistencies and there is lack of clarity as to exactly what charges patients can expect to pay in different parts of the system."

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