Firm promise cheaper hospital calls

The new owner of failed hospital telephones and televisions firm Patientline has pledged to lower call charges for thousand of patients.

Patientline, which has struggled under an £85 million debt burden, had been placed into administration and was immediately bought by newly-formed company Hospedia.

Hospedia is also buying Patientline rival Premier Telesolutions. The overall group will be run by Premier boss Tim Weil, subject to approval from competition watchdogs.

Hospedia said that its intention was to lower incoming call charges for patients paying up to 49p a minute by Patientline, sparking anger from health groups.

Incoming call prices are likely to fall to the 20p a minute charged by Premier if the deal goes ahead. The Office of Fair Trading should make a decision by October.

The new company also plans to add another 20,000 terminals to the 80,000 already operated by the two businesses across the UK, and offer better services such as improved internet access and on-demand movies.

Patientline found servicing its heavy debts proved too much following bad publicity over price hikes, lower bed occupancy and a more relaxed attitude to patients using mobile phones on wards.

Patientline's bankers have agreed with Hospedia to write off £35 million of its debts through a debt for equity swap in return for an undisclosed stake in Hospedia.

Hospedia chairman Tim Sherwood, a former Vodafone director, said: "Our goal is to rebuild consumer confidence in NHS bedside entertainment systems.

"The restructured debt and new finance gives much needed stability to the business, allows for the delivery of new innovative services and gives a real opportunity to begin to provide improved value for money."

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