AT first glance, Patientline's massive hike in hospital bedside telephone charges might appear to be an intolerable imposition on the bed-bound. Indeed, media people and others have already started thinking in headlines... a tax on the sick and so forth.

However, all may not be quite what it seems. For while this newspaper has every sympathy for patients who discover that their call to a loved one has rocketed from 10p to 26p a minute, we nevertheless feel that the devil - in this case - is really in the detail.

The company, stung by criticism, points out that the charges are dictated by the contract it has with the Government. Patientline has to fund and recover all installation expenditure - about £1 million per hospital - as well as running costs. The company is obviously intent on clawing back as much of this investment as possible and this can only be done by increasing charges to the customer.

It should also be borne in mind that the Patientline package includes TV, internet and games. Plainly, all this comes at a price.

The Worcester News believes that there should be no rush to making the wrong diagnosis in this case. Yes, we will be keeping our eye on the situation - but at the moment, Patientline is merely conforming to market place conditions in a world that is now dominated by communications technology.

And if patients really cannot afford to use this service, they can always use the relatively low-tech method of mobile phone. After all, the Government is always telling us about the merits of choice in most areas of our lives.