A man from Kesgrave had been charged a pound a minute to speak to his uncle over the bedside telephone service at Ipswich Hospital. 

Paul Cavanagh currently resides in Northern Ireland but wished to speak to his uncle who had been hospitalized with liver failure. 

Paul could only do so via the bedside telephone available at Ipswich Hospital, which is operated by Hosmedia.

He said: "A long recorded message lets me know I'll be paying 13p per minute plus any network charges by my provider."

"So a 10-minute call that should have cost around £1.30," he added.

However, the call cost him £8.01 and a 6-minute long call cost him £5.08. 

Paul approached Sky, his service provider, who said that they had not charged him any extra for this phone call. 

He even reached out to Ofcom who said: "The service charge for calls to 087 numbers is between 0p and 13p per minute.

"The access charge – which is additional to the service charge – will vary depending on your phone company and can range from 8p to 67p per minute."

Spark TSL, the parent company of Hospedia, said that the grievance should be raised with the telephone network, in this case. 

A spokesperson added: "At SPARK® TSL, we have always had an ongoing commitment to both patients and the NHS to provide a good, solid, and reliable service at all times. We pride ourselves on always doing our very best to ensure that any stay in hospital is made easier with the services that we provide. With SPARK® TSL's involvement and support from the Trusts, we are improving these services continuously."