Telephone line just rings out, very expensive

Summary: Telephone line just rings out, very expensive

My friend is 82 and housebound. Her phone bill for a 9 week period was £17 just for calls to the GP surgery. This was 37% of her bill. She had spent 107 minutes trying to get through to the GP. When she rings she just leaves the phone on loudspeaker waiting to speak to someone.
She has also made £3.60 worth of calls to the chemist asking them to query things with the GP. She can't get in to the surgery, it's difficult to get anyone to come out even though she is listed as housebound, communication just isn't there.