One employee said urgent action must be taken to stop an ‘increasing number’ of Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) cold-calls coming through to hospital wards.

The worker, who wished to remain anonymous, said the ‘irritating’ calls are diverting staff away from their work.

They said: “As employees of Inverclyde Royal Hospital we have recently noted that we are receiving increasing numbers of nuisance pre-recorded PPI calls through NHS phone lines, which is dragging hard working staff away from their important work.

“We have spoken to the central switchboard who say there is nothing we can do to prevent this.

“Surely this must be wrong and vital organisations like NHS wards should be spared this irritation?” The NHS employee said the problem started when the hospital switched its telephone provider.

They added: “We have only noticed this since the contract for NHS telephony and communication has switched recently.” Bosses from NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde say there is nothing they can do to stop the phone pests plaguing the hospital lines.

In a statement, the health board said: “We are aware that staff are receiving calls from PPI companies more frequently. “Unfortunately we are unable to stop these calls and are advising staff when they receive one of these calls to hang up immediately.

“We are also advising staff who receive text messages from PPI companies not to send a ‘STOP’ message back but to delete the message.” Last month, the UK Government revealed that it will clampdown on cold callers under tough new rules.

From April, industry regulators will no longer have to prove that unwanted messages are causing a ‘substantial damage or substantial distress’ before taking action against firms responsible.

The move, which could see companies fined up to £500,000, comes after around 150,000 people complained about cold calling last year.