A FIRM which offers services to people in Southport has gone bust - and the Southport Visiter could not be more delighted.
Patientline has been at the centre of much controversy in the Visiter pages ever since it was allowed to provide phone, TV and entertainment facilities for patients at Southport & Formby District General Hospital.
While the firm needed to recoup on its investment, charges were scandalous.
While those spending their days in hospital beds were often at their most vulnerable, their hopes of whiling away the time, taking their minds off the pain or cheering themselves up with contact from friends and families often proved prohibitively expensive.
Many people left hospital in better condition physically, but taking home hefty bills they could ill afford.
Sefton Council's health committee and Southport MP John Pugh were among those who called for charges to be slashed, arguing that making money from the sick was highly unethical.
Incoming calls cost 26p, outgoing calls were 49p a minute watching television cost £2.90.
It's enough to make you sick - wWhoever takes over should leave patients' bank balances in better health by the time they leave hospital.
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