A doctors' surgery has apologised to patients for introducing a new call system which has led to higher phone bills and longer waiting times.

Woodlands Medical Centre in Didcot said it was doing all it could to resolve problems caused by changing from a local to national telephone number.

Patients have complained it costs more than double per minute to call the 0870 number, and said they had been kept waiting longer since the new number was introduced in January.

Practice manager Lynette McGuigan said the surgery, in Woodlands Road, was also disappointed with the system, run by Network Europe Group.

Pensioner Roger Woodley, 65, of Melton Road, Didcot, said: "I obviously knew the number had changed, but it was only when my phone bill arrived that I realised how much more the calls were costing a minute. I think it's disgusting that surgeries are allowed to get away with this."

Last month, Health Minister John Hutton announced surgeries and dental practices must stop using premium and national-rate numbers from April.

Mrs McGuigan said she was angry that Mr Hutton had spoken out against the lines, because he had previously publicly supported them.

She said: "We did not take the decision of changing the phone line lightly and in fact Mr Hutton's support was the deciding factor for me.

"I was therefore outraged to hear he had changed his stance, and made it seem as if we were the villains in this. All we wanted to do was create a more efficient system for everybody.

"We never realised it would cost patients so much more and are trying to work out the exact figures, but I think it could cost up to 13p per minute, compared to 5p or 6p before.

"We are disappointed by this and problems with people having to wait on the end of the line longer, and we are doing all we can to resolve this with the service provider."

A Department for Health spokesman said surgeries were being advised to cease using national and premium-rate call systems.

A spokesman for Network Europe, which runs similar lines in about 300 surgeries and dentists, said it was in talks with Woodlands and would not comment further.