A GPs’ surgery has been commended for its use of technology to improve patient access. Hampton Hill Medical Centre (www.hamptonhillmedicalcentre.com) in Middlesex was announced as the Vision Practice of the Year last month (January 2010) in recognition of the innovations that the practice has put in place during the past two years in the form of an automated phone and online appointment booking system, as well as an SMS messaging service for patients.

The centre, which has over 7,200 patients on its register, initiated the measures to improve the overall patient experience. “One of the first areas we looked at was communication,” explained Kerry Morley, Practice Manager at Hampton Hill. “Poor communication is a common problem at many practices across the country and is essential to both the smooth running of the surgery and patient satisfaction.”

The practice decided to install an automated booking service known as Patient Partner, developed by integrated communications specialist Voice Connect. The system enables patients to call and book or cancel appointments at anytime, except for a short window of time between 2am and 4am when the service is updated. “Patient Partner has eased call congestion and offers our patients increased flexibility in making appointments which they appreciate,” comments Kerry. “In conjunction with our other innovations, the system has greatly enhanced the service that we offer our patients.”

The practice has also introduced a service known as Vision Online which enables patients to book appointments and manage their healthcare online. In addition, patients are reminded about appointments and are invited to health check and surgery events via SMS text messaging.

“It is gratifying to have all the effort that we have put into improving services for our patients recognised, not just by the patients themselves, but also by the presentation of this award,” comments Kerry.

Missed appointments cost the NHS an estimated £600 million each year, with around 6.5 million appointments missed from 2007 to 2008. “Patient Partner was originally developed to help with the issue of missed appointments and poor communication,” explains Voice Connect’s Managing Director Stefan Olsberg. “So it is pleasing to hear that this, and other advances in technology, can make such a useful contribution to GPs’ surgeries.”

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