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Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust Embarks on Outpatient Transformation Project to Optimise Patient Engagement and Drive Productivity

20th January 2025

Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust is upgrading its Patient Service Centre to enable greater patient choice whilst offering an automated case management solution to drive improved patient and agent experiences. Alongside long-term partner Netcall, the Trust is upgrading to Converse CX, Netcall’s cloud-based contact centre solution that connects data, systems, teams and communication channels. The new solution, which is set to officially go live in spring 2025, is set to deliver significant benefits to the Trust and its patients, including improved patient experience via a range of digital channels, reduced call times and volumes, and increased patient throughput by equipping agents with a complete 360-degree view of past and future patient engagements.

The introduction of the new contact centre solution will also include a patient service centre agent AI-driven knowledge base and an automated identification process at the beginning of each interaction before the patient is passed on to an agent. When used in other Netcall deployments, this solution has previously reduced call length by an average of 57 seconds, helping to minimise long wait times within booking centres, which will make it easier for patients to get the help they need. Patient Case Management will equip agents with past and future patient engagements and allow for patient specific workflows to be initiated e.g. the booking of transportation.

Meanwhile, for patients who do not wish to contact the Trust via telephone or email, AI-powered webchat with translation capability will also be available following the upgrade, enabling patients to ask questions and receive instant responses in their chosen language without the need for dedicated expertise within the contact centre. The online chatbots will be trained with information provided by the Trust including content from the website to provide instant responses, again offering significant savings and productivity gains whilst allowing patients to self-serve where appropriate.

“Currently when our call handlers pick up the phone to a patient all they see is the number they are calling in on. Once the upgrade is complete, the agent will be provided with all the vital patient context and history they need to provide a seamless experience, before they answer. We believe this will result in an improved patient experience and approximately a minute saved per call which given we have 960,000 calls coming into the Patient Service Centre each year, will equate to a significant saving on time for the Trust.”

Linda Watts

Associate Director of Digital Transformation, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust

“In today’s demanding healthcare landscape, patient service centre agents need to have the right information, at the right time in one unified view, rather than having to check different systems. The single holistic picture of relevant information, provided via the new AI-driven case management system provides greater pertinent transparency to service centre staff and patients alike. This enables staff to provide a more caring, personalised service and allows the organisation to be more proactive in managing a patient’s journey.”

John Clarke

Head of Healthcare Solutions, Netcall

About Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust

Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust provides acute and specialist healthcare for over one million people every year. They serve the local communities in the eight boroughs that form the North West London Integrated Care System. Formed in 2007, they are one of the largest NHS Trusts in the country, with more than 15,000 staff.

Their five hospitals in central and west London – Charing Cross, Hammersmith, Queen Charlotte’s & Chelsea, St Mary’s and The Western Eye – have a long track record in research and education, influencing care and treatment nationally and worldwide. They are developing a growing range of integrated and digital care services and offer private healthcare in dedicated facilities on all their sites, including at the Lindo Wing at St Mary’s Hospital.