OT NHS App scrapped?

[Dave Plowman (News]

They seem to be getting their act together. Get text messages reminding me of an appointment, or making changes.

[Pancho]

lol! The NHS has mastered using a calendar and sending a text message.

Cutting edge, world beating technology, indeed.

[alan_m]

I've had that BUT I also get land line phone calls that never take into account that an answerphone may pick up the call. For some reason the NHS also seem to want to waste a lot of money by sending out endless snail mail appointment reminders telling me to only contact them if I'm NOT going. Other organisations will give a unique reference number where you can ring an automatic phone line to confirm details.

[Andrew]

Many IOW folk haven't even progressed that far yet :-)

[Andrew]

What sort of 'package' do you use ?. I don't have a mobile phone but slowly but surely I am being forced to get one to comply with

2FA that many financial bodies use. I'm not going to spend money on a rip-off contract phone just for that reason.

[Andrew]

I thought something called Grindr? had been doing that for years :-)

[Andrew]

And it isn't the 'NHS' it is the local health provider. Move somewhere else in the country and they might still be using quill pens and fax machines.

[Andrew]

Or even use a secure email system where they send a bland email to you informing you that there is a new secure message. You have to log in to read it and make a reply.

[Pancho]

Not really, being a reputable organisation Grindr has the luxury of its users trusting a centralised database/system, obviously the NHS doesn't command that sort of respect or trust.

[Jethro_uk]

A *good* (so already rare) 2FA scheme will allow you to generate codes for use offline (say when you can't get a signal). Facebook, Google and Amazon all allow this.

So you don't *need* a phone for 2FA SMS codes (or to run an authenticator app). But it is convenient.

[tim...]

the banks should, in theory, offer a solution for non mobile users (specifically for people when in mobile dead areas)

but most have been just too damned lazy to do so

A 9.99 unlocked candy bar phone

topped up with 5 pounds per couple of years should be sufficient

just remember to make that one call every 3 months to keep it active

[tim...]

(as a completely disinterested party) I don't recognise Grindr as a "reputable" organisation in this respect

many dating webs sites are very lax with their users privacy and you wouldn't want to trust then with your name let along anything more private

[R D S]

#### it eh? Let us just allow Google and Apple to run the world. Exit room 101, meet your new masters.

[Pancho]

Sorry, I meant reputable relative to the NHS.

You know the type of company that can actually develop an app, rather than parasites who drain huge amounts of money and produce nothing.

[Andrew]

A what phone ???

All the PAYG providers seem to have moved to a new system where your unused credit vanishes at the end of the month. Who do you use ?.

[tim...]

one that you can buy for 9.99 (unlocked)

Is that right

I'm using ASDA

but the same used to be available from Tesco and several others

You're right, I can't find such a tariff now

though they all come bundled with data, which is completely ****ing useless with a candy bar phone

tim

[Dave Plowman (News]

No.

[alan_m]

GiffGaff do credit that doesn't run out unless you use it but their PAYG call costs are high.

They would prefer that you purchase one of their goody/data bags where you pay a fixed sum for x amount of data, unlimited call minutes and unlimited texts BUT after 30 days everything left in the "bag" is lost. You can have both, a PAYG credit that remains and a "bag". The goody/data bags start stop from the day you buy them so you could if you wish have zero or one per year. If you have both running at the same time the calls, text and data come from the bag and not your PAYG credit which remains intact.

I have 3 GiffGaff SIMs. One is in my bugler alarm with PAYG credit only where it sends me a text message once every 2 weeks to tell me it's still there (and other text messages if the alarm is triggered).

I have a throw away (£16) phone in the car with a SIM with only PAYG credit that I could use for emergencies. If necessary I could convert some of the PAYG credit to a 30 day goody bag if I needed the facility of unlimited calls. I've found that the "bag" is usually functioning minutes after setting it up and paying for it.

My main mobile phone has a SIM with PAYG credit where occasionally I spend £6 on a goody bag when I know that I'm likely to make enough calls to make it worth while.

If you top up the PAYG credit by £10 GiffGaff also allow free calls for

3 months to other GiffGaff users.

[ARW]

One of the reasons I an not going to use track and trace.

I don't want to have to self isolate for 14 days just because ONE of the

200 people that were closer than 2m to me today tests positive.

[DJC]

Tesco Mobile works for me. £5 for phone if bought with £10 top-up, so £15. If there were prizes for putting phones through the washing machine I would be a winner? three in the last 18 months. Consequently I have accumulated £35 credit in top ups and use about £5 a year.