HEALTH chiefs have been condemned for putting wealth before health' in a row over phone systems at a number of East Lancashire medical centres.

Patients at medical centres in Padiham, Burnley Wood and Clayton-le-Moors must dial an 0844 number to make appointments or order a repeat prescription.

The lines are thought to be four pence more per minute than a BT landline - and mobile phone users face call charges of up to 35 pence per minute.

NHS bosses say the system is more efficient though - as it can provide a number of phone lines via a single number and costs the same to call from anywhere in the UK.

All three centres come under East Lancashire Primary Care NHS Trust. None in Blackburn and Darwen are believed to operate the system.

"People have been complaining about this in Padiham and I think it is a bit of a disgrace," said Granville Lord, a former councillor and mayor of Padiham.

"This is all about accessibility and availability. If people can receive health advice over the phone or pick up a prescription, rather than making an appointment, then that is what most health centres tend to want these days.

"It is sad in this day and age that surgeries are putting wealth before health. If the system is not broken then why fix it?"

A spokesman from East Lancashire PCT said : "The 0844 numbers have been suggested to use by the Department of Health to assist in accessing GPs, given that the patient can ring anywhere in the country and it would still be a local call rate.

"In trying to streamline the GP practice answering service and to cut down waiting times on phone calls, the health centre turned to a new digital system that could give various options to patients when they phoned in.

"This has speeded up the service considerably, by reducing the time spent on the phone for patients, and helping to cut down on long and frustrating engaged' waiting times before a patient gets through, particularly at busy times.

"The evidence indicates that the majority of people use landlines to contact their GP and the number of patients affected because they are using a mobile is small.

"It is worth noting that the move to an efficient telephone system is anticipated to reduce the connection time for people making an appointment and of the few who use a mobile, fewer still will spend less than a minute on the phone."

The 0844 prefix has also been adopted by a number of surgeries in the Preston area.