Patientline Share Discussion Threads

[palwing] 18/10/2007 14:06

Richard, advertised pay is £14k-16k for a 40 hr week. Shift work too!!!

They will struggle to get good engineers for that sort of money.

Even basic Electro/Mech/IT field service engineers are on £18k - £22k plus a car.

[jonc] 17/10/2007 22:59

service level agreement??

[scribbler101] 17/10/2007 22:57

What's an SLA?

[richardbees] 17/10/2007 20:29

Thanks, pal

In today's climate of Hospital aquired infections I wouldn't fancy the job...

(what was the pay?)

[palwing] 17/10/2007 19:09

Local advert! Poor pay though...

To support the Regional Technical Manager & Site Managers by ensuring the effective & efficient operation of site based Patientline bedside unit equipment (TV/Internet/Telephone Unit). To deliver technical support to site teams in order to achieve SLA's as agreed. Role includes replacing faulty bedside units at ward level, supporting site systems at bedside unit level & to escalate system faults to Tier 2, collection/deliveries of equipment. You will have proven technical abilities working in a technical support arena as well as experience of replacement equipment & customer service/support environment. Ideally you will also have experience with computer systems & networking, fault prioritisation & working with RF & Digital networks. Successful applicants are required to provide an enhanced disclosure. Disclosure expense will be met by employer.

[scribbler101] 12/10/2007 08:49

Conference Ends With Rousing Sing-Song
By Glen Oglaza
Political Correspondent
Updated: 16:59, Thursday September 27, 2007

The Labour Party conference has ended today with the traditional sing-song of "The Red Flag" and "Jerusalem".

Opera singer Marion WilmannI confess to a particular interest this year as my wife, Marion Wilmann, was the opera singer who led the singing.

This does not reflect any Labour leanings on my part, and as I have been telling everybody is entirely coincidental.

Like all opera singers, she is happy to take work whenever and wherever she can get it, and is waiting for the phonecall from the Conservatives or the Liberal Democrats.

[scribbler101] 12/10/2007 08:47

They had stopped - but didn't they resume this year?

[richardbees] 12/10/2007 08:38

yes, they've done good job trashinbg the system.....do they still sing 'The Red Flag' at party conferences?

[scribbler101] 12/10/2007 01:29

rb - the alcohol wipes are allegedly good for MRSA - ie they have cured last year's problem.

I presume you have seen the reports of C Diff at Maidstone - and the expert saying they are typical.

What it boils down to is that before the NHS hospitals ran themselves as autocracies. It has taken decades to get them to the present state of soviet incompetence.

[richardbees] 11/10/2007 21:39

Thanks, scrib re IIUC- I haven't seen that before....

Maybe I misread what it was in the dispenser but I got a sense that the Hospital was trying to be scrupulously clean.

[scribbler101] 11/10/2007 15:37

If I Understand Correctly alcohol gel no good for C Diff !

[richardbees] 11/10/2007 14:36

IIUC?

I was at St Georges Tooting this AM for an ultrasound (false alarm re liver). There were alcohol hand gel dispensers alongside every door into wards, units etc. and they were being used religiously from what I saw.

[scribbler101] 11/10/2007 14:15

IIUC the hospitals do not sanitise these sets between patients!

[richardbees] 11/10/2007 14:10

Agreed

But I wouldn't touch one of the handsets in Maidstone Hospital!

[scribbler101] 11/10/2007 13:59

rich - that was the only mention of PTL in the book, so if a point was being made it was not stressed! If there is to be a charge at all, I don't think £2.50/day is excessive. Or the 10p/min call out. It's just the call in.

[richardbees] 11/10/2007 13:26

Scrib - not how I see it, she only mentions £ when she's a point to make.
Just come back from hols and someone left her new one 'Queen Camilla'in the seat pocket, 'preposterously funny' according to the S Times!

Good result, pal

[palwing] 02/10/2007 08:44

Negative article in the Express yesterday re PTL. Lots of old info but mainly saying they were re-negotiating bank debts.

[scribbler101] 01/10/2007 16:00

richardbees - 20 Sep'07 - 22:01 - 1554 of 1568

I was just reading "Adrian Mole and the Weapons of Mass Destruction"
(2004)

Sue Townsend makes a very 'sarky' reference to "patientline".....

Currently reading "Mole". Only reference so far (p322; Fri Mar 28 2003) is entirely neutral.

"He has been fixed up to Patient Line(sic), a new service which provided each patient with their own TV, radio, and 'phone line at a cost of £2.50 a day. He is able to watch the war in Iraq 24/7."

[scribbler101] 28/9/2007 19:19

I am cinvinced that the only way forward is with a charge that people will not see as extortionate. 10p/min ish.

[marben100] 28/9/2007 17:53

Typical bureaucratic/PC thinking: we must make sure the poor consumer knows the most they could possibly be charged for this call. Also there may be some political pressure for OFCOM to be seen to be doing something after the campaign of vilification in the press.

PTL didn't help themselves, though, by first raising and then lowering some charges this year.

[scribbler101] 28/9/2007 15:29

m100 - Hard to see why offcom would impose such an obviuosly irrational thing.

[marben100] 28/9/2007 12:51

Palwing - delighted to hear of your dad's recovery :0). My own dad, who is now 87, appears to be recovering well from a minor heart attack a couple of years ago. Recently got him an exercise bike, which he uses most days. He'll soon be fitter than I am, at this rate :0).

Scribbler, my own understanding of what PTL are saying is that OFCOM has forced them to state a MAXIMUM charge, which presumably would be something like the figure that a caller using a prepaid mobile phone would pay to dial PTL's 07 numbers (as opposed to someone dialling in on a BT line). I can understand and sympathise with their annoyance and frustration. Unfortunately, it is no consolation to shareholders (unless PTL can sue OFCOM for helping to destroy their business by imposing an unrealistic condition).

From your POV, at least it means that the day when the debt restructuring is announced draws closer. I hope, for your sake, that your view that shareholders will end up with a stake worth more than 1p/share turns out to be right but I fear that it will not.

Good luck!

Mark

[scribbler101] 28/9/2007 12:27

The Ofcom decision, which took effect from Sept 1 2007, has the "misleading"
effect of telling callers of the maximum cost per minute of an 0700 call rather
than the actual Patientline cost which is always lower, the company said.

That sounds ludicrous! I agree with disclosure of their rip-off charges, but not with an incorrect and misleading "disclosure" that makes them worse than they are.

Does anyone understand what is actually said?

palwing - good news re dad. ever get answer re MRSA?