National Health Service to review phone numbers to improve service to callers

An choices for NHS services if the Department of Health’s public consultation prohibit the use of 0844/0845 telephone numbers in 2009.

Ten Reasons Why 03 Numbers are Being Recommended by the Department of Health

The department of Health launched an England wide consultation on the 16th of December to find out if it should prohibit the use of 0844/ 0845 numbers to access services given by the NHS.

Greater numbers of GP practices, pharmacies, Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) and opticians use these 08 numbers as they offer improved call features like caller queuing and choices for enquirers to make sure they get through to the correct department (e.g. press 1 for reception, press 2 to speak to a nurse etc.)

The study (which closes in March 2009) often references 03 telephone numbers as the best substitute, as they offer the same extra features as 0844/0845 numbers, but essentially are charged at the same rate as regular landline numbers, even from mobiles.

This is particularly important when 40% of all calls made in the UK last year were from mobiles (Ofcom 2008).

0300 numbers are entirely for the public sector and are readily being put into place by many NHS organisations including Wiltshire Medical Services, South Staffordshire PCT and West Sussex PCT

Here are 10 reasons why 03 numbers are being advocated by the Department of Health:

1. They are for the public as they are priced the same to ring as 01/02 numbers – even from a mobile.

2. Because 03 numbers are relatively new there are still a huge range of easy to remember 03 numbers available (they were launched in 2007).

3. The public confidence 0300 numbers as they are exclusively for public sector businesses.

4. Organisations can deal with enquirers more efficiently, get valuable data about their particular 03 number and ensure all calls are received by the correct person, first time.

5. You can set up 0300 numbers to record calls.

6. 0300 numbers can easily move with the organisation if it relocates.

7. Organisations can decide where they receive their calls, by rerouting their 03 number to any United Kingdom landline or a mobile phone easily using the web/phone.

8. It’s possible to see the geographic location of callers and the busy periods of the organisation using online call statistics packages.

9. Callers can be queued, meaning that all important calls will be answered.

10. They can frequently be very reasonable to run if you seek out the provider with the most reasonable offering in the market.

The outcome of the public consultation will be interesting and for National Health Service organisations that depend on the features of their telephone numbers, then at least 03 numbers or 0800 numbers provide a great alternative if they should choose to stop using 0844/0845 numbers in the National Health Service.