Hospital bosses are looking at dropping a ban on mobiles after bedside phone system company Patientline announced a hike in call prices.

Managers at the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust have said they were not told about the telephone and television firm's plans to increase the cost of patient calls by 160 per cent.

Patientline has been installed at most of the trust's 1,200 inpatient beds at Oxford's John Radcliffe and Churchill Hospitals and The Horton, Banbury. Prices yesterday rose from 10p a minute to 26p.

The trust is now looking at other ways to help patients keep in touch.

A trust spokesman said: "We're concerned about this price rise for outgoing patient calls from Patientline, which we have only just been informed about.

"Although the Patientline facility is a national initiative, with the contractual details and charges set at a national level, we're disappointed we weren't consulted by Patientline about this price increase, and we'll be discussing it with them.

"We're actively looking at all options, including a relaxation on the restrictions of the use of mobile phones."

Patientline machines offer personal phone lines, Internet access and a range of radio and digital TV channels within reach of every bed.

Patients pay for the technology by buying cards, starting at £2.

The system has been criticised since its installation in 2002, because incoming calls are charged at 40p a minute.

Dorothy Holloway, of Wensric Drive, Minster Lovell, near Witney, spent five days at the JR in September after gut problems left her seriously ill.

She said she spent £2 on calls - about 20 minutes - from the Patientline console, before finding a pay phone elsewhere on the ward. The same amount of money would now cut her conversation down to under eight minutes.

Mrs Holloway, 59, said: "The cheapest card you can buy is £2 and even then you can only use £1 for phone calls. The rest is for the television, but when you're really ill, the last thing you want to do is watch TV.

"I think it's disgusting. It was a rip-off before the prices went up. I was lucky because I found a pay phone and got 20 minutes for 40p. That's fine if you're mobile, but a lot of patients are bed-bound.

"I think patients should be able to use their mobiles, especially now they've proved it doesn't impair equipment. Obviously, you'd have to be careful not to disturb people in nearby beds, but the Patientline phones can ring at any time, so there's no difference."

ORH patient and public involvement forum chairman Jacquie Pearce-Gervis said: "I think the Patientline price rise is dreadful and puts the system beyond the reach of the average patient. I hope this prompts the trust to put their skates on and relax the ban on mobiles. Patients really need to stay in touch with loved-ones while in hospital, and I'm really quite shocked about this."

The trust said if patients were given the go-ahead to use mobile phones, there would still be restrictions to safeguard equipment.