Simplifying Patient Communications with the NHS

While a patient who is being referred for treatment waits for an appointment to be scheduled, can be stressful – and often results in a significant share of the calls received by the Trust’s booking centre.

By introducing the Waiting Well module of Patient Hub, Rotherham can easily provide patients with digital updates, answers and advice to help them prepare for their procedure. Easing the anxiety of patients reduces their need to call.

Incoming calls reduced by 12% – equivalent to 500 calls per week from patents checking if there was an update or any news. The improved communication also had a cumulative effect of reducing the waiting list by 10%.

“We’ve freed up operators so they can spend more time on the phone with patients who have complex cases. It’s better for those who can use tech. And it’s also better for people that don’t want to use the tech. We have ensured that everyone, regardless of age, diversity, culture or disability, has access to a communication method that works for them – and it also works for the Trust.”

Sally Atkinson, Patient Engagement Portal – Programme Head, The Rotherham NHS Trust

Previously, administrators were tasked with calling each patient on a waiting list every 12 weeks to check whether they still needed to be on the list. As this was in excess of 30,000 patients, it was a near impossible task.

Introducing the Waiting List Validation module of Patient Hub meant that this 12-week check was automated and sent digitally via SMS.

The impact was instant. The workload was suddenly removed from the team. Calls into the into the contact centre significantly reduced from day one.

And now patients are discharging themselves from waiting lists at a rate of around 8.3% – meaning those patients don’t need any further support from the Trust, so the remaining patients can move closer to appointment slots and treatment.

Diagnostic bookings were a critical challenge for the Trust, as 90% of outpatient appointments require diagnostic tests, and delays in these tests often lead to postponed treatments. High DNA rates and long waiting times for appointments further exacerbated the issue. The Trust needed to improve productivity, reduce missed appointments and decrease the backlog of patients awaiting care.

First, they implemented Liberty Converse, our omnichannel contact centre, in the diagnostic booking centre, after deploying the same technology in their main outpatient booking centre. Instead of one single phone line, patients are now queuing on the phone in an orderly fashion, rather than getting an engaged tone or voicemail. They go into a modern telephony queue and booking agents can see how many people are waiting and for how long – so they can answer the call accordingly.

The next phase was the implementation of a digital Diagnostic solution. This automated the booking of radiology appointments by directly pulling data from the Radiology Information System when a patient is referred. This not only simplifies the process for patients, allowing them to select the most convenient appointment times, but also reduces the administrative burden on the booking team, with 30-40% of bookings now handled online. This gives patients more control over their appointment scheduling and provides greater flexibility in how they communicate with the Trust.

The impact was immediate. Call volumes to the booking centre decreased significantly, resulting in a reduction in call wait times.

With Converse deployed, the booking agents have a modern contact centre solution to work with, they can see if patients have come through the digital booking system but have dropped out to speak to an agent. With all the details to hand for agents, the calls are quicker to complete and patients receive an all-round better experience.

Rotherham saw results almost instantly from the Diagnostic Booking application.

As patients engaged with online bookings and picked appointment times which suited their own schedules, it caused a reduction in DNA rates. DNA rates fell from 8% to 2%, against a backdrop of a UK NHS average DNA rate of 7.6%.

Productivity in the booking centre improved by 30-40% as a proportion of people self-serving online affected call volumes.