To ask the Secretary of State for Health which primary care trusts use (a) 084 telephone numbers and (b) other telephone numbers that charge more than the local rate for calls from the public. (247616)

The Department does not hold this information centrally and it cannot be provided except at disproportionate cost. However the Department remains clear that it does not expect patients to pay more than the equivalent cost of a local rate call when contacting the local national health service.

We recently launched a public consultation on the intention to prohibit the use of 084 numbers in the NHS. This will run from 16 December 2008 until 31 March 2009.