Equal rate for hospital calls

COMMON sense has finally prevailed – it seems – with regard to patients making phone calls from their hospital beds.
At a time when the last thing somebody can do is nip out to the bank to withdraw a bundle of cash, or take out a second mortgage, phone calls on the Patientline service have been cut by 75 per cent to 10p.
It would be churlish to knock such a gesture, but let’s not forget this is a job only half done.
Family and friends calling a patient from outside the hospital will still have to pay up to 49p per minute to check on their loved one’s progress.
When someone is cut off from their home in a hospital bed, surely that link with the outside world is vital, and necessitates an equal rate – whichever way the call is coming from?