0844 number success

4.05.21pm UTC (GMT +0000) Mon 4th Feb 2008

Stockton Liberal Democrat Councillor, Julia Roberts is delighted to hear that the North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Trust are no longer using the expensive 0844 telephone number.

Last summer she called upon hospital bosses to think again and asked for information about just how much money the hospitals made from this service.

She said "I'm really pleased that people can now ring the hospital without incurring large phone bills. For whatever reason, health bosses have made the right decision and I commend them for this. I now wait with interest to see if those surgeries who had switched to 0844 will follow this lead. I would also like to see lots of publicity about this as dialing the 0844 number still connects your call".

University Hospital of North Tees can now be contacted on 01642 617617

and Hartlepool Hospital on 01429 266654. The main switchboard for both hospitals is the North Tees number.