Bermondsey and Lansdowne Medical Mission has been using Voice Connect’s automated Patient Partner system since March 2005. The system was originally introduced as a way of reducing the call congestion that was particularly common at peak times, and as a way of offering patients increased flexibility in booking appointments. Whilst the surgery currently has four telephone lines available for call queuing, it can still be difficult to handle a large influx of calls when the surgery opens at 8.30am, a time when people often call to make emergency or routine appointments.

The Bermondsey and Lansdowne Medical Mission is a relatively large GP surgery in Bermondsey, located between the Elephant and Castle and Tower Bridge just south of the Thames. As is usual in many urban areas, the practice’s patient demographic is multicultural with patients from a range of ethic backgrounds and social class. The local residents live in a mix of private and social housing.

The medical centre, which has over 13,000 patients registered on its list, is one of two surgeries which make up the central London practice. There are currently 4 partners plus 12 additional GPs working part time at the surgery, with another 22 staff employed in a range of clinical and administrative roles. The practice runs a range of clinics, including antenatal care and family planning, as well as offering services to advise on health issues such as hypertension, diabetes and nutrition.

“We felt that, by giving our patients more choice in when they could call to make appointments, we would be able to reduce call congestion at peak times,” comments Sonia McVinnie, Assistant Practice Manager at Bermondsey and Lansdowne. “We did have some concerns prior to installation about how we would collect telephone numbers so that our patients could have access to the system and also how we would advertise the system.  However, the support from the Voice Connect helpdesk has always been good – they are on hand whenever they are needed.”

Whilst the surgery currently has four telephone lines available for call queuing, it can still be difficult to handle a large influx of calls when the surgery opens at 8.30am, a time when people often call to make emergency or routine appointments. So a system like Patient Partner, which allows people to make appointments if they feel unwell in the night rather than when they get up, or late in the evening rather than before leaving for work in the morning, means that call traffic at these times is reduced.

Assistant Practice Manager Sonia reports that Patient Partner has made a significant contribution to the day to day running of the practice by improving the whole call handling process, through reducing call congestion and freeing up receptionists’ time so they are able to deal with other administrative task to facilitate the smooth running of the practice. “Because patients are able to book or cancel their appointments at any time, they now find it easier to make an appointment and access has improved, which was one of our main aims in introducing the system.”

The Partners and Practice Manager at Blackwater Medical Centre were looking for ways to reduce call congestion and make it easier for patients to arrange appointments. They felt that an automated telephone system, in the form of Patient Partner, could help with this common problem. After meeting with personnel from Voice Connect and seeing what Patient Partner could do, they decided to go ahead with the service, installing it in March 2009.

Blackwater Medical Centre is located in the town of Maldon in East Essex. The surrounding area is largely rural, including some significant wildlife conservation areas, and also attracts many sailing enthusiasts. The centre itself is one of two surgeries in the town and employs six full time GPs and one part time doctor in addition to a total of 22 staff in a range of clinical and administrative roles. There are over 14,000 residents from the town and surrounding villages on the patient register: the patient demographic is predominantly elderly.

Since this time, Practice Manager Lesley Beale reports that the service has lived up to expectations and is working well at the practice. “We anticipated that Patient Partner would benefit staff by easing pressure on the switchboard, and releasing more time to attend to other essential duties which enhance patient care,” she comments.  “The general reaction from patients has also been very positive. There were some initial issues with dates of birth for twins, triplets and elderly people born before 1909, but these have all been resolved very quickly by Patient Partner. The system has achieved our objective of improved access by making it easier for our patients to get in touch with us and make appointments, and our patients seem very satisfied with the service. It has also improved the speed with which we are able to handle calls as people are now able to bypass reception and make appointments automatically.”

Lesley believes that the service is an important step forward in offering patients improved choice and that, as word of the system continues to spread, that it will play an increased role in further improving call handling efficiency. “We feel that Patient Partner could do more to reduce congestion at peak times, but I think this is purely because the service has not been well advertised by the reception staff as yet – the patients need to know about the system and be encouraged to use it for it to have maximum impact.  Hopefully this is now resolving and the system is becoming better known amongst our patients.”

Lesley is impressed by Patient Partner’s functionality and when asked, can’t think of any way in which the service could be improved although she mentions that the automatic back up function, which backs up their clinical system daily for a short period of time in the middle of the night could be inconvenient for any patient wishing to call at that time.  This is because Patient Partner requires access to their clinical system and cannot obtain it during back up times.  “Obviously our clinical system has to be backed up so there is nothing that can be done about this, but it could be annoying should a patient choose to phone at this particular time.”

This minor, unavoidable technical issue aside, Lesley is very pleased with the system and feels that it does what was promised. “We have found Patient Partner to be an innovative service which gives our patients increased choice.  If used correctly, the system can save patients time and money, particularly at the high call volume times which can be problematic for any surgery.  It also offers our patients the opportunity of getting appointments quickly and easily. It is no longer necessary for patients to have to ring at 8am and so alleviates the congestion and rush in the mornings.”

In fact, Lesley is so impressed with the service, that she would have no hesitation in recommending it to others. “If a surgery like ours was considering switching to Patient Partner I would encourage them to do it as the system does improve patient choice.  In a nutshell, I think it’s great!”

The Hull Daily Mail reports that patients at a Beverley GP surgery will be the first in the county to benefit from Patient Partner – the 24-hour telephone system.

Dr Mixer and Partners in Albert Terrace is planning to introduce Patient Partner, which enables patients to call the surgery at any time to book or cancel appointments.

Here is the full story about how their patients will be able to book appointments around the clock.

‘Patient Partner is a marvellous system’ says Kingsthorne Group Practice

First opened in 1919, the Kingsthorne Group Practice in Doncaster now consists of two surgeries: the main surgery in the town centre and a branch surgery in Edenthorpe, which was once a village on the outskirts of Doncaster but which has become subsumed by the growth of town. The practice is a substantial size, with a total of 9,300 patients of mixed demography patients on its list.  There are six partners, one registrar and one F2 currently at the practice, plus four nurses and twelve reception and administrative staff.

Patient access is a problem for many GP surgeries and is also an issue that has been identified by the government. Senior staff at the Kingsthorne Group Practice decided to install an automated appointment booking system in order to reduce the number of calls into the reception team and to offer their patients increased flexibility in making appointments.  “We felt that using Patient Partner would enable us to give our patients a better service, as well as reducing pressure on our reception team,” explains Practice Manager, Alison Maw. “We were keen to offer them the opportunity to book their appointments at any time of day as we felt this would improve patient access. However, we did have some concerns prior to going ahead, mainly about how much our patients would use the system.”

Fortunately, this concern has been allayed by a very positive response from the patients, although Alison admits that they are eager to continue encouraging a greater uptake of the service. “The patients who have used Patient Partner really love it: they find the ease of use great. We do need to continue promoting the service to our patients and are currently using our flu vaccine sessions as an opportunity to do this.”

Alison reports that Patient Partner has really come into its own since they installed SystmOne in June 2009 (a service which integrates with Patient Partner and enables patients to also book appointments online), and that the two systems complement each other well. Using the two services in conjunction has had a very positive impact on the day to day running of the practice. In terms of improving the patient experience, Alison feels that Patient Partner has achieved the original objective of making it easier for them to contact both surgeries. She also believes that using the system has improved patient access and satisfaction.

From a staff perspective, Patient Partner has improved the whole process of call handling, meaning that the receptionists now have more time to attend to other areas of patient care. “Since we have been using Patient Partner, the number of calls coming in to reception has significantly reduced,” comments Alison. “We hope to continue this trend as patients become more aware of the system. It also has the added benefit of enabling patients to cancel appointments at the weekend so we are aware first thing on Monday morning of any appointments that have become available over the weekend.”

1. Ease of use: no special passwords etc. are needed; the patients can just use it
2. The system is available 24 hours a day
3. It frees up reception time

Now that Patient Partner has bedded in so well, Alison has also made some suggestions for ways in which the system could be developed still further to accommodate the varying demands of the practice, which have been taken on board by Voice Connect. “I mentioned that it would be helpful if there was a way of enabling different nurse appointments to be selected related to a time length,” she comments. “So the staff at Voice Connect have been working with us to facilitate this and we hope to have this up and running shortly. In fact, the support from Voice Connect has been very good throughout.”

Alison feels that the difference that Patient Partner has made to the practice is significant, with the potential to become even more widely used. “Patient Partner is a marvellous system that enables patients to have better access to appointments – you just need to ensure that you get the message over to all the patients so they can take advantage of the system,” she says. “If a surgery with similar issues to ours was considering installing Patient Partner, I would advise them to promote the system and go for it.”

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‘Patient Partner is a marvellous system’ says Kingthorne Group Practice

Patient access is a problem for many GP surgeries and is also an issue that has been identified by the government. Senior staff at the Kingthorne Group Practice decided to install an automated appointment booking system in order to reduce the number of calls into the reception team and to offer their patients increased flexibility in making appointments. “We felt that using Patient Partner would enable us to give our patients a better service, as well as reducing pressure on our reception team,” explains Practice Manager, Alison Maw. “We were keen to offer them the opportunity to book their appointments at any time of day as we felt this would improve patient access. However, we did have some concerns prior to going ahead, mainly about how much our patients would use the system.”

To obtain your complete copy of the case study CLICK HERE adding ‘Kingthorne’ to the subject line of the email.

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‘Patient Partner works very well with EMIS’ at Pembroke Road Surgery

Extended opening hours and a steadily growing population mean that phone lines at most surgeries across the UK are constantly busy and, prior to installing Patient Partner, Pembroke Road was no different. The practice decided to look into using an automated appointment booking system due to a progressive increase in telephone calls – which in turn contributed to a general increase in workload for reception staff.

To receive your copy of the Pembroke Road Surgery case study CLICK HERE and add ‘Pembroke’ to the email subject line.

Cumbria Neighbourhood Watch aiming to widen its net

A seemingly innocuous van is driven down a street and pulls up outside a house.  Out of it step 2 men. Nothing particularly strange in that, but they then shiftily begin to look around and scan the scene before disappearing to the back of a property.

Minutes later, they reappear before driving off – thinking they’ve drawn no attention to themselves.

But what they don’t realise is that they’ve been watched every step of the way.

Suspecting they could be up to no good, someone – already warned to beware of suspicious vehicles in their area – has taken a note of the registration number and descriptions of the pair.

They discover their neighbour’s house has been broken into. Now police are on the suspects’ trail. Thanks to one person’s vigilance, they have a head start on catching them.

This is just one type of scenario where Neighbourhood Watch comes into its own.

In Cumbria, there are 3,000 such sets of watchful eyes who are members of the organisation – providing often critical information to help bring criminals to justice.

And with as many people as that against them, crooks in the county can never be sure who’s taking note as they go about their illegal work.

More than 40 crimes in Cumbria were solved last year thanks to the work of Neighbourhood Watch with police receiving more than 800 calls from its members. Countless more offences were prevented because of measures they have taken to protect themselves and make their areas safer places to live.

The success of the movement and plans for the future will fall under the spotlight at Cumbria Neighbourhood Watch Association’s (CNWA) annual general meeting on Saturday.

Among those who will mark the organisation’s contribution there are Cumbria’s Chief Constable, Craig Mackey, and Chief Fire Officer Dominic Harrison.

Dr John Perkins is chairman of the association, the charity that represents watch members at the heart of the movement’s work.

He insists those involved are not so-called curtain twitchers – as stereotype would have many of them – but people who want to help their communities.

“One of the things people nationally are trying to do is reposition Neighbourhood Watch as a genuine community-based grassroots movement about people getting together and making their communities nicer, more pleasant places to live,” Dr Perkins said.

“We’re not the police. They have their role. Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) are getting much more involved with the movement and have a role to play.

“We’re just people trying, where we can, to support police in their efforts. The police, through their work are trying to support us as well in trying to make Cumbria a safer, stronger place to live and work.

“There is an image of curtain-twitching and we need to get rid of that. We’re not a bunch of nosey-parkers.”

Neighbourhood Watch encompasses villages and estates across Cumbria – and increasing numbers in every imaginable place are being urged to join up.

It comes in various guises – from the one covering people’s homes to specialist schemes such as Farm Watch.

Among one of its keys in helping fight crime is the Voice Connect scheme, through which messages – including warnings of potential crime risks in an area or issuing pleas for vigilance – can be relayed from police to members.

Members, by raising issues from their area, can also help influence policing priorities.

Dr Perkins, who also represents Cumbria on the regional Neighbourhood Watch forum and sits on a national network, has been involved with the organisation for about two years and is the scheme coordinator for his home village of Gamblesby in the Eden valley.

He said: “We had a couple of burglaries in Gamblesby and people said we should set up a Neighbourhood Watch scheme. I said I’d get it organised.

“Paul Caine, who was a development officer at that time, said the board were looking for people and asked if I’d be interested.

“I went along to the meeting and found virtually everybody had resigned. Suddenly, there were a group of people thinking ‘what do we do? Do we try and get this moving forward again?’”

They have managed that and, appropriately, the theme of Saturday’s AGM – at which about 100 delegates are expected at the University of Cumbria’s Newton Rigg campus, near Penrith – is “moving forward”.

The chief constable, who will speak there, is in no doubt about the importance of Neighbourhood Watch – thanking all those involved – and has encouraged people to join their nearest scheme.

Mr Mackey said: “Neighbourhood Watch is about bringing people together to help improve quality of life for communities.

“We have a number of Neighbourhood Watch teams that provide us with invaluable experience and knowledge of their areas. There can never be enough volunteers.

“By taking an interest in the issues that matter most to you, your neighbours are playing an active part in decision-making, we can work together to agree priorities and find the best solutions for the community.”

Dr Perkins is also adamant that the work done by its volunteers has a positive impact.

“Neighbourhood Watch does make a difference,” he said. “There’s research which says it reduces crime and disorder. Messages from neighbourhoods have resulted in arrests.

“The other thing is perception and fear of crime.

“People may be more secure, but do they feel more secure? That is a big issue Neighbourhood Watch can help with.”

West Cumbria is one of the key areas being targeted to establish more watch schemes. Nationally, efforts are being made to get more younger people involved.

As well as crime-fighting, Neighbourhood Watch is also becoming more involved with firefighters and crime and disorder reduction partnerships on wider community safety work.

David Farmer, a former chief Crown prosecutor for Cumbria, was employed by CNWA and Cumbria County Council for a year to examine the work of Neighbourhood Watch and is now a volunteer board member.

He is positive about the role the organisation can continue to play in future.

As well as strengthening the strong connections between watch members and neighbourhood policing teams, Mr Farmer believes the work can be expanded further.

“A really good example is the increasingly strong link with the fire service and Neighbourhood Watch,” he added.

“Neighbourhood Watch is about working with volunteers in the community.

“You know of a 90-year-old lady next door and keep on her property and that is as much keeping an eye in fire and rescue terms.”

Other speakers at Saturday’s AGM will be county council chairman Roger Bingham, High Sheriff Susan Thornely, county council official Lorraine Smyth

Anyone who spots a crime in action should call police by dialing 999. Call 0845 3300247 to advise police about a past crime or suspicious activity. Crimestoppers can be contacted anonymously on 0800 555111.

For more information on CNWA, go to www.cumbria-nhw.org

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Smart Clinic: ‘all walk-in clinics should have this installed’ says Streatham Hill Health Centre

The clinic managers at Streatham Hill Health Centre felt that installing an automated registration and triage system such as Smart Clinic would be a positive move, improving patient access and promoting self management amongst its users. However, given the sensitive nature of clients’ medical issues, they also had some concerns about how secure people would feel using the service and whether the uptake would justify its installation.

Elizabeth is delighted with the way that the system is working and feels that it has achieved all that they had hoped for and more. ‘Smart Clinic has more than lived up to our expectations. We have used it successfully for auditing purposes and it has also helped us to fulfil the Department of Health drive to increase access for young people. In fact, the Smart Clinic initiative has been particularly well received by our young clients. In addition, we have found it simple to make ongoing changes according to client need/feedback to ensure that the system fully meets our requirements.’

To receive the Streatham Healthcare case study CLICK HERE and add ‘Streatham’ to the email subject line.

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Early bird surgery finds Patient Partner excellent, user friendly technology

Staff at Davenport House had been working for several years with their patient participation group on ways of improving access to services. As  part of this commitment, the number and timings of appointments had increased, including the introduction of early bird surgeries between 7am and 8am. However, telephone access and booking remained problematic. The two practice managers and partners worked with the patient participation group and the PCT to tackle concerns about the morning call congestion and decided to introduce a 24 hour automated booking system.

To receive your copy of the Davenport House Surgery case study CLICK HERE and add ‘Davenport’ to the email subject line.

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VC Relay a key tool in Leicestershire Constabulary’s success

Making community involvement in tackling crime a priority, Leicestershire Constabulary bought into VC Relay in 2004 as a modern replacement for their Ringmaster system. “Initially VC Relay was installed predominantly as a new system for communicating with Neighbourhood Watch members,” explains Inspector Mark Chell of Leicestershire Police. “It offered us a cheaper and more efficient way of doing this.”

To receive your copy of the Leicestershire Police case study CLICK HERE and add ‘Leicester’ to the email subject line.