Dr Russell Muirhead pictured with Rob Tolley
Telephone Number Change-Press Release
August 14, 2009
Out Of Hours Telephone Number Change.
The out-of hours number for urgent health care and advice in Shropshire County, Telford & Wrekin and Powys is changing on the Ist September 2009.
The new number is 08444 06 8888 and will be charged at 1p per minute from BT landlines. (Calls from other networks and mobiles may vary).
The service is provided by Shropdoc (Shropshire Doctors Co-operative Ltd), a not for profit company established in 1996. The service is provided by over 300 GP members, the majority of whom work in local general practice. Shropdoc do not use agency doctors and are a local employer of over 200 staff including nurses, drivers, call handlers and receptionists.
Shropdoc provides services to 600,000 patients in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin and Powys. They take over 200,000 calls per year and see over 50,000 face to face patients per year.
Shropdoc provides urgent healthcare and advice when your own surgery is closed i.e. every weekday evening, week- ends and Bank Holidays.
Shropdoc is a growing organisation dealing with an increasing numbers of patients’ year on year and the need for a resilient telecommunication system is therefore of paramount importance.
Commenting on the change of numbers Dr Russell Muirhead, Chairman of Shropdoc said “After exhaustive discussions we are pleased to have found a system that allows us to re-route calls within seconds via the web or mobile phone should a problem arise, providing a valuable safety net for patients against technical difficulties”.
The provider, Fluid Network Solutions who have offices in Shrewsbury, also provide 24/7 technical back up. “The service we provide is critical to the local communities and we are delighted that Fluid’s solution will ensure that we provide a robust service for patients”.
The new number will also make phoning Shropdoc cheaper, calls from BT landlines are 1p per minute. Graham Fell, General Manager of Shropdoc added “There is a lot of mystique about 0844 call costs and it was very important for us to choose the cheapest calls tariff available for our patients”.
Rob Tolley the Managing Director of Fluid Network Solutions said “Our objectives were to provide a service, which enables Shropdoc to take full control of their own call routing management, along with reducing the call charges for the patients and provide a more memorable number. We are absolutely delighted to be working in partnership with Shropdoc”