No phone at surgery

The first that Wendy Pratt, practice manager at the East Street Surgery, knew of the problem was when she tried to dial out on Monday afternoon and the line was dead.

It took numerous calls to various BT outposts, including Belfast and Sheffield, and an expensive two hours on her own mobile phone before Wendy was able to find someone who was able to reconnect the surgery. The situation was made worse because the practice had switched on Monday to a new system enabling patients to telephone for an appointment instead of having to make a personal visit.

A BT spokeswoman apologised for disconnecting the surgery, but said a bill due in April had not been paid until after the order had gone out for the line to be terminated.

However, Wendy said the NHS trust which deals with bills on the surgery's behalf had paid up on June 4.

"BT's approach seems to be to take action first and ask questions later. One BT official did say they normally called on the morning of disconnection to let people know what was happening, but we had no such call. If they had warned us, this could all have been sorted out.

"It's almost as if they didn't know the number was for a doctor's surgery. It's like cutting off a hospital's phones. Apparently we have priority for repairs, but not when it comes to keeping us connected if they think the bill hasn't been paid.

"Of all the days for it to happen, with our new appointments system starting. It was an absolute nightmare."

The BT spokeswoman said there was no indication on the company's records that the number was a GP surgery. "It's in the name of the doctors, and there are all sorts of doctors these days, not just medical ones, so it could have been any kind of business.

"Our records show the bill was due to be paid in April and when letters and final warnings went ignored, we were convinced the service was not required. It was paid very late, but by then the order had gone out to disconnect the line.

"We pride ourselves in dealing with the NHS and GP surgeries, but for whatever reason, it was not clear that this was a doctor's practice. Whoever pays the bill needs to ensure that we are aware that this is a surgery's number."