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"Rip-off patient T.V"

About: University Hospital (Coventry)

(as the patient),

I bought a £10 hospedia card with the intention of buying 2 x £5 bundles, to last me through two days on the ward at University Coventry & Warwickshire. I uploaded the £10 card and after the free morning TV had ended, I activated the first bundle which entitles you to 25 TV channels for 6 hours. I went to sleep at midnight and the next morning I noticed that my account was empty, when it should have contained £5 credit.

The man on the helpline confirmed that my account was empty and told me that I had activated the second £5 bundle minutes after the first had expired, at half-past midnight. So now, he said, yes, the account was empty. I explained that this was nonsense because I'd been asleep when he claimed I chose and confirmed the second bundle....in any case, HAD I activated it, I would now have been able to see it 'counting down', and there was nothing counting down and no additional channels available.

He couldn't care less - he simply repeated that he could see exactly what I had done, and that was activating and confirming the second package at 12. 30. Nothing I could say would make any difference.

The entire system is a ripoff, starting with the outrageous cost of incoming calls, which charge the caller 49p per minute while drawling through the obvious information that this person is in hospital - OFCOM says that this has never been a directive - before the caller can even ring the bedside telephone, which if not answered, still charges the caller.

Subscriptions to Netflix cost £5. 99 a month. If you use it, this system costs £7. 50 a day (and people buying cards of £10 can't get a refund), gives you less, and calls you a liar when you try and sort out problems.

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Responses

Response from University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust 8 years ago
We have made a change
University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust
Submitted on 25/08/2015 at 14:07
Published on Care Opinion at 16:27


Thank you for taking the time to provide feedback on your experience at University Hospital, Coventry.

I am very sorry to hear about the issues you have had. Although the television system isn’t something managed by the Trust, but by a separate company as part of a national contract, we are unhappy to hear you’ve had a poor experience. We really appreciate your feedback on this and please be assured we will raise it with the company concerned.

If you would like to discuss aspects of your care further then please contact the Trust’s Patient Advice and Liaison Service on 0800 028 4203. If you would prefer to contact us by e-mail, our address is feedback@uhcw.nhs.uk

Alternatively, you can write to us at the following address:

PALS
University Hospital
Clifford Bridge Road
Coventry
CV2 2DX

If you do decide to contact us, please make us aware that you have left comments on the Patient Opinion website.
The Trust is grateful for all feedback, positive or negative, as it means we can better understand what is important to our patients.

Thank you for leaving your comments on Patient Opinion.

Communications Team
University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust
Telephone 0800 028 4203

Update posted by Pandarine (the patient)

Wow...thanks for the quick response. I knew that this system wasn't managed by the trust but having sent an email of complaint to the company itself and not having even received the courtesy of an acknowledgement, I came to this forum to highlight it somewhere on the internet, and also to let you at the Trust know what happens at the 'sharp end' when patients use this system. Because at some point you may be asked for feedback and it is important that you know.

In terms of every other aspect of my care on this and other occasions of being a patient at University Hospital, I cannot fault a thing.

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