A health watchdog in Oxfordshire has today called for a Government review into the "extortionate" cost of making phone calls to and from hospital wards.

Patients told a survey conducted by Oxford's patient and public information forum that the Patientline phone and television system run at the John Radcliffe Hospital cost too much sparking a demand for a review by the Department of Health.

It can cost up to 49p a minute to make a call and Jacqui Pearce-Gervis, chairman of Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals PPI Forum, said: "They told us Patientline was expensive and regularly out of order.

"Patients felt that, as they were not allowed to use their mobile phones in hospital, they were being exploited, in that their only way of communicating with their friends and family was through this exceedingly expensive and inefficient system.

"The PPI forums were anxious that those on a fixed income, or regular in-patients would be either left in debt through using the system, or isolated, because they couldn't afford to use it, and are given no alternative."

The privately-run Patientline service, which allows patients TV, radio, phone, Internet and email access at their bedside, has been operational on wards at the Headington hospital for the past five years.

But there are growing concerns about the cost of services. Last month it emerged that it costs £3.50 to watch 23 hours of TV. Now, the latest survey has shown that at more than 100 hospitals where Patientline is installed, the firm is charging 39p per minute off-peak, and 49p per minute at all other times for incoming calls.

More than 88 per cent of those surveyed said they found the cost of calling via Patientline expensive, or very expensive.

Sarah Bowden, southern area spokesman for PPI forums, added: "Through PPI forums, patients are telling their NHS trusts, and their bedside phone providers, to think again about these charges, and start delivering real choice for patients by reducing the call charges."

Helen Peggs, a spokesman for Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust, said: "We were required by the DoH to provide a bedside phone system, and went for the most cost-effective option."