Petition Barriers to equal access for the poor and vulnerable

Non-geographic numbers are very expensive to call from a mobile phone. Yet, many poor and vulnerable individuals have little choice but to rely on expensive pay as you go phone tariffs as their sole means of communication. Increasingly, government departments, GP surgeries and other public services are using non-geographic numbers. As a community nurse, I regularly see many vulnerable/poor people simply unable to afford to enquire about their benefit claims, make GP appointments or seek help and assistance from public service agencies using their mobile phone. It is time to remove this barrier that prevents equal access to public services for the poor and vulnerable.