Patientline on the ropes :-))

MB

The message <>
from Brian A <> contains these words:

> >The concept of deriving a profit from patients and their relatives by
> >charging to park or charging for phone calls at more than cost is
> >something
> >that I find deeply repugnant. I believe very strongly in the original
> >ethos
> >of the NHS - "free at the point of use".



I am always very suspicious of the mantra from politicians (particular
New Labour ones) that the NHS will remain free at the point of use. It
leaves them open to charge provided it is done retrospectively just that
no one will be turned away.

MB

DaveP

> Patientline and their vile business model are on their death bed, with
> little hope of survival.

It is expensive but if you do spend time in hospital the television is a
godsend. I was in for a week and yes it was bloody steep. I also had to
chase for the promised refund as it didn't automatically appear (a friend
warned me they usually hope you forget about it).

They had several sharp practices - like shutting off TV's which had been
paid for when people were discharged (once the credit is on the TV you
can't have it refunded).

It would also be fairier to pay for TV in hours used, not per 24 hour
period, though very unlikely as it would make their losses worse.

D

{{{{{Welcome}}}}}

R. Mark Clayton wrote:
> Patientline and their vile business model are on their death bed, with
> little hope of survival.
>
> Putting the prices up resulted in reduced revenue (whereas advice
> from this group was to lower prices in actually increase revenue)
> with the shares now down to less than 1p see: -
>
>
>
> does it hurt - only when I am ROTFLMAO!




Premier are another one, wonder how they are getting on?


--

PeterT

On Thu, 29 Nov 2007 15:12:10 -0000, "Hog" <.uk>
wrote:

>Nomen Nescio wrote:
>> "R. Mark Clayton" <> wrote:
>>
>>> Patientline and their vile business model are on their death bed,
>>> with little hope of survival.
>>>
>>> Putting the prices up resulted in reduced revenue (whereas advice
>>> from this group was to lower prices in actually increase revenue)
>>> with the shares now down to less than 1p see: -
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> does it hurt - only when I am ROTFLMAO!
>>
>> good riddance!
>> ***** the b******s!
>
>It wasn't Patient Line that ****ed the business model. It was the UK Govmint
>and regional NHS Trusts that did that.
>HTH.

Do you wish to expand on your reasoning?

--
Cheers

Peter

David Horne, _the_ chancellor

R. Mark Clayton <> wrote:

> Patientline and their vile business model are on their death bed, with
> little hope of survival.
>
> Putting the prices up resulted in reduced revenue (whereas advice from this
> group was to lower prices in actually increase revenue) with the shares now
> down to less than 1p see: -
>
>
> rticle2957517.ece
>
> does it hurt - only when I am ROTFLMAO!

I found the TV service very handy when I was in hospital a few years
ago. It got me through being bored, in pain and drugged up. It was also
a great escape from the rest of the ward. I think that if all the TV
units were removed, people would certainly miss them. Not sure if I'd be
laughing if I had to go back to hospital without a TV service... (the
radio was free IIRC.)

--
(*) ... of the royal duchy of city south and deansgate
- real address on website
"He can't be as stupid as he looks, but nevertheless he probably
is quite a stupid man." Richard Dawkins on Pres. Bush"

Ivor Jones

"David Horne, _the_ chancellor (*)" <.uk>
wrote in message
news:.uk

[snip]

: : I found the TV service very handy when I was in
: : hospital a few years ago. It got me through being
: : bored, in pain and drugged up. It was also a great
: : escape from the rest of the ward. I think that if all
: : the TV units were removed, people would certainly miss
: : them. Not sure if I'd be laughing if I had to go back
: : to hospital without a TV service... (the radio was free
: : IIRC.)

Last time I was in hospital (around 1998 IIRC) I had a standalone telly on
a trolley that they wheeled to my bed. Can't remember how much it cost but
it wasn't all that much, around £25-£30 for the week I was there, I think.

Ivor

David Horne, _the_ chancellor

Ivor Jones <ivor@despammed.invalid> wrote:

> "David Horne, _the_ chancellor (*)" <.uk>
> wrote in message
> news:.uk
>
> [snip]
>
> : : I found the TV service very handy when I was in
> : : hospital a few years ago. It got me through being
> : : bored, in pain and drugged up. It was also a great
> : : escape from the rest of the ward. I think that if all
> : : the TV units were removed, people would certainly miss
> : : them. Not sure if I'd be laughing if I had to go back
> : : to hospital without a TV service... (the radio was free
> : : IIRC.)
>
> Last time I was in hospital (around 1998 IIRC) I had a standalone telly on
> a trolley that they wheeled to my bed. Can't remember how much it cost but
> it wasn't all that much, around £25-£30 for the week I was there, I think.

That's more expensive than the personalised TV service patientline
offers, which is £3-£3.50 a day.

There was quite a large take-up of the TV service in the ward I was in-
I can't imagine that this would be replaced with standalone TVs, and in
any case the patientline charge is only about £3-£3.50 a day. And, the
radio is free. And where it's available, internet is free...

--
(*) ... of the royal duchy of city south and deansgate
- real address on website
"He can't be as stupid as he looks, but nevertheless he probably
is quite a stupid man." Richard Dawkins on Pres. Bush"

Ivor Jones

"David Horne, _the_ chancellor (*)" <.uk>
wrote in message
news:.uk
: : Ivor Jones <ivor@despammed.invalid> wrote:
: :
: : : "David Horne, _the_ chancellor (*)"
: : : <.uk>
: : : wrote in message
: : : news:.uk
: : :
: : : [snip]
: : :
: : : : : I found the TV service very handy when I was in
: : : : : hospital a few years ago. It got me through being
: : : : : bored, in pain and drugged up. It was also a great
: : : : : escape from the rest of the ward. I think that if
: : : : : all the TV units were removed, people would
: : : : : certainly miss them. Not sure if I'd be laughing
: : : : : if I had to go back to hospital without a TV
: : : : : service... (the radio was free IIRC.)
: : :
: : : Last time I was in hospital (around 1998 IIRC) I had
: : : a standalone telly on a trolley that they wheeled to
: : : my bed. Can't remember how much it cost but it wasn't
: : : all that much, around £25-£30 for the week I was
: : : there, I think.
: :
: : That's more expensive than the personalised TV service
: : patientline offers, which is £3-£3.50 a day.

Well it was an off-the-top-of-my-head figure, I could be wrong, it was 9
years ago.

Ivor

Andrew Gabriel

In article <.uk>,
(David Horne, _the_ chancellor (*)) writes:
> I found the TV service very handy when I was in hospital a few years
> ago. It got me through being bored, in pain and drugged up. It was also
> a great escape from the rest of the ward. I think that if all the TV
> units were removed, people would certainly miss them. Not sure if I'd be
> laughing if I had to go back to hospital without a TV service... (the
> radio was free IIRC.)

There were TV's in hospitals before Patientline, and there will
be after Patientline.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

David Horne, _the_ chancellor

Andrew Gabriel <.uk> wrote:

> In article <.uk>,
> (David Horne, _the_ chancellor (*)) writes:
> > I found the TV service very handy when I was in hospital a few years
> > ago. It got me through being bored, in pain and drugged up. It was also
> > a great escape from the rest of the ward. I think that if all the TV
> > units were removed, people would certainly miss them. Not sure if I'd be
> > laughing if I had to go back to hospital without a TV service... (the
> > radio was free IIRC.)
>
> There were TV's in hospitals before Patientline, and there will
> be after Patientline.

Individual TV sets at every bed? You must have been in different
hospitals to the ones I visited...

--
(*) ... of the royal duchy of city south and deansgate
- real address on website
"He can't be as stupid as he looks, but nevertheless he probably
is quite a stupid man." Richard Dawkins on Pres. Bush"