The GP surgery which charges its patients 8p per minute to book an appointment over the telephone may be forced to abandon the scheme after the Department of Health said it was 'investigating with a view to banning' the use of 0870 numbers in its practices.

The Grove Road Medical Centre in Grove Road, Borehamwood, is one of about 300 GP surgeries in the UK which has changed its phone number to a 'national rate' line with an 0870 prefix in a bid to save money. The Grove Road centre has a new telephone system paid for by a company who will take the profits from the 0870 number for the next five years.

But Government ministers and some GPs have objected to the new number because they say people should not be over-charged for calling their doctor. At 8p a minute a call to the Grove Road Medical Centre is more than twice the price of a standard local BT call.

Some press reports have said a decision to ban the 0870 numbers has already been made, but a Department of Health spokesman this week that was the case. He said: "This is a complex issue and we are looking at the wider implications at the moment, but to say we have banned it is premature. We are investigating and will clarify our position in due course. All I can say is that we are investigating with a view to banning them, but we cannot say anything more at this stage."

The spokesman added he could not give any indication of how long the investigation would take.