The £4m Marina Healthcare Centre in North Somerset delivers a new level of healthcare to local patients – and brings their local NHS service right up to date. It offers a huge range of primary care services in a single site. These include a GP practice and community nurses, drug counselling and even pulmonary rehab.
However, the number of services, people and departments involved also presented a complex technical challenge. Namely, keeping everyone in touch. From patients calling in and staff remaining in touch, to reception being able to manage calls effectively. Not only that, but there was always the continual pressure to minimise costs as well. It was a complex set of requirements.
But we love a challenge, so we were delighted when they asked us to get involved.
Communications worth talking about
Within just eight weeks of asking us to help, Estates and Facilities Manager, Vicki Lovis, had met every one of these challenges. After speaking to her and her staff and understanding their complex requirements, we recommended our IP Multimedia solution.
Now, clever call routing means patients can quickly reach the right practitioner, in the right department. Consultants can be contacted via the same number, no matter which room they’re working in. All support staff can stay in constant contact with each other. And it’s all done without overwhelming reception.
Better reception all round
Today, the healthcare centre is a busy, well-used local facility, and no two days are ever the same. Yet reception remains a model of calm, thanks to IP Multimedia. Now all staff and practitioners have a unique pass code that they can punch into any handset, and access everything from voicemails to the last number they dialled.
All 50 staff can stay in touch with each other, with the same four digit number, wherever they’re working. So everyone can always stay in touch and up to date. As a result, consultants can hold clinics where it’s most convenient for patients. And because they can change consultation rooms without needing to change handsets, fewer rooms remain unused. The patients, themselves, have access to a low cost 0300 number, which gives them an option menu to direct their calls effectively. For example, they can choose to leave a message for their GP on a digital messaging service (which can be forwarded at the click of a mouse).
No pain, all gain
IP Multimedia has given the patients of NHS North Somerset a fantastic way to communicate with, and use all the services offered by, the Marina Healthcare Centre. And costs for the centre itself have been slashed, while still ensuring their patients’ needs are always put first.
Internal calls made within the centre – and with four sister sites – don’t cost a penny, which adds up to more savings too. And because the IP Multimedia solution is hosted and fully-managed, there was no need to devote a large chunk of budget to new equipment. Instead, it’s just one straightforward monthly fee.
Adding new features to user accounts is easy, so staff can stay focused on the patients. And it’s even simpler to add whole new sister sites to the service, for any future expansion in patient or staff care.
NHS North Somerset case study
