My iPhone doesn't allow NHS numbers to call me

[Janey27]

Hello, 

Hoping somebody can help as seen this issue posted before but not seen a solution. My iPhone 16 is not accepting calls from various NHS numbers (GP, various hospital departments). It is not a signal issue as they come through to my partner's phone and I do not have any 0800 numbers blocked. 

According to the various NHS staff my phone rings once and then goes to voicemail. I don't have missed calls on my phone nor do the voicemails show on my phone. 

@Scuddah - can see you had this issue previously? Did you get it sorted?

Really grateful for any insight/solutions from any forum members as these phone calls are really important.

Thanks in advance! 

[bristolian]

NHS users tend to call from withheld numbers, but otherwise there's nothing different from any other switchboard/PBX-based caller.

Can you receive calls from other withheld numbers? Your phone seeming to ring once then divert, is certainly indicative of a device-based issue.. if the call was diverted at network-level, it wouldn't ring. You mention your partner's phone is unaffected, which leads onto a 2way SIM-swap. This will ID whether your phone or the SIM is causing the issue.

Put your non-working SIM in your partner's working phone - what result?

Put your partner's working SIM in your non-working phone - what result?

[Janey27]

Hi, thanks for your reply. 

Some of the calls are from withheld numbers but others are not. I receive other calls from both withheld and non-withheld numbers from other organisations with no issues. 

I think the issue is the SIM rather than my phone as this issue has been going on for a number of months and I changed my handset recently and the problem persists.

[bristolian]

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@Janey27 wrote:

Some of the calls are from withheld numbers but others are not....

I think the issue is the SIM rather than my phone as this issue has been going on for a number of months and I changed my handset recently and the problem persists.

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Even better, if non-withheld calls are affected.

Try the 2way SIM swap, and you'll know for sure rather than merely suspecting.

[nrolls]

Hi, was there any resolution to this? I'm having exactly the same issue. 

Many thanks. 

[nrolls]

I'm receiving 'unknown caller' voice mails from NHS appointments but no initial call is coming through.

My handset has unknown caller screening disabled. I've seen a few threads on this but no resolution, has anyone been able to solve? Thanks. 

[Christopher_G]

Hi all.

There's an option on iPhone to 'screen unknown numbers', where it plays a voicemail-like message for any number that calls you that isn't saved in your phone.

Could you try turning this feature off in your settings and let us know if it helps please?

Screen and block calls on iPhone – Apple Support (UK)

Thanks

Chris

[nrolls]

Thanks Chris. I'm on an iphone. I've got 'screen unknown numbers' to 'never' and Call filtering is disabled.. the issue still occurs. 

[bristolian]

One of the previous posts in this thread mentioned both withheld number calls & non-withheld number calls being affected - you mentioned your problem being "exactly the same" so I presume this still applies.

Can you identify any pattern to the calls being blocked, that are from numbers not being withheld? Do all calls from particular numbers get blocked, or only some? And have you previously been able to reliably receive calls from those same numbers?

Can you also try enabling those in-phone options, leaving them active for a day or so, and then disable them again? This might help rule out a device software glitch.