Telecoms specialists Voice Connect (www.voiceconnect.co.uk) created Patient Partner for GPs almost 10 years ago, and it is now used by over 2.5 million patients across the UK. The automated system allows patients to contact their surgery at any time of the night or day to book, cancel and change their appointments.

With over 50% of GPs in the UK now using an EMIS clinical database, the integration is good news for both surgeries and patients. The new integration status means that Patient Partner now fully amalgamates with all EMIS variations including   LV, PCS LAN PCS WAN, PCS (in Scotland) and Web.

Official estimates put the cost of missed patient appointments to the NHS at around £600 million a year.  Patient Partner was originally developed to help combat this issue, and the news that approval has been given for it to be used by so many surgeries is highly likely to have a positive effect on reducing DNAs across the UK.

Stefan Olsberg, MD of Voice Connect comments “Using Patient Partner has proved to be a very positive experience for many GPs.  Not only has it cut DNA rates and saved practices money, it has also given patients greatly improved access to the services they provide.  Now that we are able to integrate fully with so many additional practices, it should mean that we are able to improve the service that thousands of GPs can offer their patients.”

EMIS is the leading primary care software provider, holding 39 million patient records. The company works with carefully selected partners only after a series of rigorous tests have been passed. Voice Connect were established in 1991 and have worked closely with PCTs and GPs’ surgeries across the UK for over 20 years. They provide a range of unified communication services for doctors’ surgeries as well as local authorities and private organisations.

A report commissioned by the Department of Health says GPs’ administrative support teams should be radically altered to cut costs. The plan would involve centralising appointment bookings through a national call centre, clearing surgeries of thousands of staff.

However, doctors and surgery staff say the proposal is “flawed”. Unison, the public sector trade union, said that remote call centres could not provide the “very personal service” that patients needed.

The report by the NHS Confederation’s Foundation Trust Network looks at ways back office functions could be streamlined. It says the message to all NHS bodies is that they must “simplify, standardise and share” to save money.

The NHS is “highly fragmented”, with a total of £2.8 billion spent on back office functions. The trust, headed by Tony Spotswood, chief executive of Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals, recommends: “There are substantial efficiency gains to be achieved through transforming GP back office functions, such as the potential to move towards regional and national GP appointment centres.”

A Unison spokesman said surgery staff not only made appointments. He said: “A call centre cannot begin to do the job these staff do.” Doctors and their support staff were more forthright. Dr David Iles from Southampton commented “Even your average alien would consider this hilarious stupidity.”

Stephan Olsberg MD of Voice Connect comments “There are far better ways to improve the efficiency of patients booking appointments with their GP. Systems such as our own Patient Partner allow around the clock access, giving the patient the ability to book, cancel or move their appointment without the need to speak to a receptionist or a call centre”

Church Street Surgery in Ware has introduced a new phone system which enables patients to call the practice at any time to book or cancel appointments. The system, known as Patient Partner, went live at the surgery in June. It has been specially designed to ease the problems that patients can face when trying to contact their GP, offering increased choice in how and when appointments are made.

The surgery has 8,600 patients on its register. It has already introduced an online system for booking appointments and ordering repeat prescriptions at www.churchstware.org. The new phone service is the latest initiative designed to improve access for patients and enhance the overall patient experience. “Patient Partner will help ease call congestion by giving patients more choice in when they can call,” explains Val Terry, Business Manager at Church Street. “This frees up phone lines at traditionally busier times of day for important queries and emergencies.”

The automated system works by detecting spaces in the doctors’ diaries, allowing the patient to choose the appointment time which best suits them by pressing a button on their touch tone phone. The system also integrates fully with the online booking and repeat prescription service.

“We realise that some patients may prefer to book appointments in the traditional way and they may continue to do so if they wish,” comments Val. “However, by providing this round the clock service, we can offer greater flexibility for all our patients, including those who work unsociable hours. We also believe that it will free up valuable time for our receptionists to attend to patient care.”

A survey carried out by the DPP (Developing Patient Partnerships) and the Institute of Healthcare revealed that almost a quarter of a million patients across the country fail to attend appointments each week. “Patient Partner was developed to help with this issue,” explains Stefan Olsberg, Managing Director of Voice Connect. “By making it easier to contact the surgery, we hope that the new system will help to diminish the number of wasted appointments which has to be good news for patients.”

Jockey Road Medical Centre is situated near to Sutton Coldfield in a residential area comprised of a mainly middle class populace with small pockets of deprivation. Part of the Midlands Medical Partnership (www.mmpmedical.com), which administers services for around 50,000 patients across 8 surgeries in the Birmingham area, Jockey Road currently has 8,260 residents on its patient list. The centre staff include 5 doctors, 3 nurses and 13 staff in a range of administrative, reception and support roles.

Call congestion, particularly at the peak times when a surgery first opens, is an issue for many GP practices of all sizes and locations. The staff at Jockey Road were aware of this problem at their own surgery and were keen to find ways of improving patient communication with the practice, as well as enhancing patient access and easing the pressure on their busy reception desk. They decided that an automated phone appointment booking system could be the answer, and installed Patient Partner in 2009. The practice was also the first surgery in the UK to use Patient Partner with the Vision Enterprise System through the central server.

However, change isn’t always well received by patients, so the staff at Jockey Road had some apprehension prior to installing the system. “We were a little concerned about how our patients would respond to using an automated system for the first time,” comments Sonia Cox, Practice Manager at Jockey Road Medical Centre. “Whilst it’s true that initially some patients expressed a preference for speaking to a receptionist, the system actually bedded in quickly and within a couple of months we received lots of positive feedback from patients of all ages who found the system easier to use than expected.”

Sonia and the reception staff are pleased with the way that the Patient Partner system is working at the surgery and feel that it has helped to improve communication for both staff and patients. “Patient Partner has more than lived up to our expectations and has helped us to improve patient access as we had hoped,” she comments. “The system has helped to reduce call congestion at peak times and has also enabled us to handle a high volume of calls more efficiently. This has the added bonus of making it easier for patients with urgent problems to get through to reception quickly.”

Patient Partner’s top three features

1. The system is easy to use for old and young alike.

2. Patients can bypass the appointment section if they need to speak to a person.

3. You really notice the difference when you don’t have it!

“The system has become such an integral part of the surgery and our day to day routine that we don’t really think about it,” adds Sonia. “However, we really appreciated its value and noticed the difference that it makes to the life of the practice when we had some down time during a recent data merge.”

Sonia also rates the service from Voice Connect very highly. “The support from Voice Connect as a company has been extremely good throughout the whole process. We have always found the staff extremely helpful and any actions requested have been dealt with quickly. All in all we are very happy with the system and how it works within our practice.”

Furthermore, Sonia would be happy to recommend Patient Partner to other surgeries looking to improve their patient access and communication. She would also urge surgery staff not to be deterred by the possibility of an initial negative reaction from patients to the prospect of an automated system.  “People rarely embrace change and although there were some concerns raised by patients at first, the system was used regularly very quickly. In addition, the feedback from the patients was very positive from the outset, reporting that they found the system easy to use. Certainly, our own experience of using Patient Partner has been a very positive one.”

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.

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.

“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.”

Patient Partner’s top three features are:

1. Reduces time and workload for reception staff.
2. The system is available 24 hours a day.
3. The system has improved patient access.

Sonia also reports that the patients are happy with the system, and that removing the frustration of queuing and the engaged tone combined with improved access has increased patient satisfaction. “We didn’t realise quite how many patients were using the system until we audited the figures – and we were pleasantly surprised at how many appointments have been made in the past 12 months using the Patient Partner service,” explains Sonia.  However, the practice is keen to continue proactively promoting the service and encouraging further patient uptake with support from Voice Connect.

After using the system for several years, the Bermondsey and Lansdowne Medical Mission is happy to recommend Patient Partner to other practices who want to improve patient access to their services, but advises that the system works best when adjusted to the individual surgery’s needs. “We are happy with the Patient Partner system and so are our patients – it does just what was promised.  We are pleased to be able to use the service to give our patients an increased choice and enhance their experience at our centre.”

Jockey Road Medical Centre is situated near to Sutton Coldfield in a residential area comprised of a mainly middle class populace with small pockets of deprivation. Part of the Midlands Medical Partnership (www.mmpmedical.com), which administers services for around 50,000 patients across 8 surgeries in the Birmingham area, Jockey Road currently has 8,260 residents on its patient list. The centre staff include 5 doctors, 3 nurses and 13 staff in a range of administrative, reception and support roles.

Call congestion, particularly at the peak times when a surgery first opens, is an issue for many GP practices of all sizes and locations. The staff at Jockey Road were aware of this problem at their own surgery and were keen to find ways of improving patient communication with the practice, as well as enhancing patient access and easing the pressure on their busy reception desk. They decided that an automated phone appointment booking system could be the answer, and installed Patient Partner in 2009. The practice was also the first surgery in the UK to use Patient Partner with the Vision Enterprise System through the central server.

However, change isn’t always well received by patients, so the staff at Jockey Road had some apprehension prior to installing the system. “We were a little concerned about how our patients would respond to using an automated system for the first time,” comments Sonia Cox, Practice Manager at Jockey Road Medical Centre. “Whilst it’s true that initially some patients expressed a preference for speaking to a receptionist, the system actually bedded in quickly and within a couple of months we received lots of positive feedback from patients of all ages who found the system easier to use than expected.”

Sonia and the reception staff are pleased with the way that the Patient Partner system is working at the surgery and feel that it has helped to improve communication for both staff and patients. “Patient Partner has more than lived up to our expectations and has helped us to improve patient access as we had hoped,” she comments. “The system has helped to reduce call congestion at peak times and has also enabled us to handle a high volume of calls more efficiently. This has the added bonus of making it easier for patients with urgent problems to get through to reception quickly.”

Patient Partner’s top three features

1. The system is easy to use for old and young alike.

2. Patients can bypass the appointment section if they need to speak to a person.

3. You really notice the difference when you don’t have it!

“The system has become such an integral part of the surgery and our day to day routine that we don’t really think about it,” adds Sonia. “However, we really appreciated its value and noticed the difference that it makes to the life of the practice when we had some down time during a recent data merge.”

Sonia also rates the service from Voice Connect very highly. “The support from Voice Connect as a company has been extremely good throughout the whole process. We have always found the staff extremely helpful and any actions requested have been dealt with quickly. All in all we are very happy with the system and how it works within our practice.”

Furthermore, Sonia would be happy to recommend Patient Partner to other surgeries looking to improve their patient access and communication. She would also urge surgery staff not to be deterred by the possibility of an initial negative reaction from patients to the prospect of an automated system.  “People rarely embrace change and although there were some concerns raised by patients at first, the system was used regularly very quickly. In addition, the feedback from the patients was very positive from the outset, reporting that they found the system easy to use. Certainly, our own experience of using Patient Partner has been a very positive one.”

Trinity Medical Centre is a small, semi rural practice located in the Staffordshire village of Blythe Bridge, a few miles south east of Stoke on Trent and close to the major traffic routes of the A50 and M6. The centre employs two GPs, two practice nurses and eight additional staff who work in a range of clinical and administrative roles. There are 4,200 patients registered at the surgery, drawn from a predominantly white middle class demographic.

Like many GP practices across the UK, Trinity Medical Centre experienced a high volume of phone call traffic at certain times of the day, particularly when the surgery first opened in the morning. In an effort to reduce call congestion and improve overall access for patients, senior management at the centre decided to implement an automated appointments service, with Patient Partner first going live at the practice in September 2009.

Practice Manager Sue Bryan explains the reasons behind opting for the Patient Partner system. “We wanted to install an automated service because our telephones were always extremely busy first thing in the morning, every day of the week.  We thought that if our patients were able to book and cancel their own appointments whenever it suited them, it would remove some of pressure from the early morning staff. We also hoped it would make the telephones less busy, which would be less frustrating for patients.

“Having had a full demonstration from the sales team which clearly explained everything, we felt confident about going ahead,” comments Sue. Fortunately this confidence was not misplaced and the system has lived up to expectations. “Whilst we have had a few minor teething problems as we adapted the system for our particular requirements, it has enabled us to greatly improve our service. Not only that, but our staff now feel less pressured and are able to cope much better in the mornings.”

Most importantly, the reaction from patients has been very positive, with most expressing the opinion that Patient Partner is a good idea. “Patients find the system easy to use and have adapted well to it,” says Sue “They are now able to make their own appointments without going via reception, saving a lot of time and frustration.”

Patient Partner’s top three features:

1. It makes the telephones less busy.

2. Patients can pre book their appointments.

3. It handles out of hours calls and directs patients to the out of hours service.

Patient Partner has helped to improve several key areas of surgery life, including the main aim of reducing call congestion, particularly at the traditionally busy times. It has also achieved the objective of making life easier for the receptionists by reducing the number of calls that they need to answer, thereby releasing time to concentrate on other tasks. “Our patients also say that they find it easier to contact the surgery since the system has been installed,” comments Sue. “In fact, using Patient Partner has really enhanced our overall call handling capabilities.”

Sue has nothing but praise for the system and would be happy to recommend it to any other surgery looking to resolve their call handling issues. “I think the system is very good and can’t think of anything else which needs to be done to improve it. Whenever we have had any issues, they have been resolved quickly by the support team: they have offered us a good level of support and we have always been able to speak to someone when we have needed to.  Generally, Patient Partner has made the reception a much calmer place and receptionists have time to do other things.  Our patients are able to book appointments in advance and out of hours 24/7 so this frees up the telephones – and it has also saved us money by not having to install another telephone line. I would advise any surgery considering installing the system to go for it. Not only am I happy to recommend it to others- I have already done so!”

White Medical Group is located just outside the border of Newcastle upon Tyne and consists of three sites: the main surgery is located in the village of Ponteland, with branch sites at Wylam and Stamfordham. The practice employs 6 doctors, 2 nurses and 19 admin staff for a patient list of just under 7,000 residents in total. With the three surgeries covering a large geographical area which includes both urban and rural communities, the patient demographic is varied.

The demands made on a modern GP practice are steadily increasing, and whilst the number of reception staff at White Medical Group had remained constant for some years, their workload was continually rising. The partners and practice manager decided that installing an automated phone appointment booking system could be one way of reducing this pressure, and so went live with their Patient Partner system in October 2009.

Although Patient Partner is installed at over 600 surgeries nationwide (with that number steadily rising), there were no surgeries in the area using Patient Partner at that time. This meant that the practice manager James Young was unable to see the system working in situ prior to installation.

“Although Voice Connect’s demonstration was very good, we weren’t certain that the reality would live up to it,” James explains. “We couldn’t go and see the system in action in a real surgery which made it hard to uncover any flaws, so it felt like a bit of a leap in the dark to have the system installed, particularly in relation to the integration with our clinical and phone systems.”

However, these concerns proved to be unfounded, and whilst it took a little adjustment to integrate the system with EMIS during installation, once installed everything has run efficiently. “Voice Connect ironed out the inevitable teething issues very quickly,” comments James. “Since going live we haven’t had any problems at all.  Everything has worked reliably – in fact, I have been very impressed with Voice Connect’s level of support.”

James also reports that the system has been well received by the majority of patients at the surgery and that uptake has steadily increased as patients become more familiar with Patient Partner. “Generally elderly patients can take a while to get used to the technology, but this has become easier with time,” he explains. “There was some initial concern that we would force people to use the service, but this was never going to be the case. The system is great and we find that once a patient has used it they never go back to the old system of ringing a receptionist. Some patients will always prefer speaking to a real person, so we have the best of both worlds by having both options. We plan to extend our marketing efforts with help from Voice Connect in order to continue increasing patient usage still further.”

Patient Partner’s best three features are:

1. The integration between the phone system and the clinical system.
2. The stability of the IT platform.
3. The ability to book appointments at any time which has also reduced receptionist workload.

James reports that Patient Partner has had a positive impact on call handling and general communication at all the surgeries, reducing call congestion, particularly at peak call times. The system has freed up time for receptionists, whilst making it easier for patients to contact the surgery. “The system has enabled us to monitor how we handle calls and make further improvements by providing useful statistics which allow phone usage to be closely monitored,” he adds.

“Our experience of Patient Partner has generally been very positive and if a surgery similar to ours was considering installing the system, I‘d advise them to go for it as it’s definitely worthwhile if you want to take some of the existing workload pressure off reception staff. Prior to installation, it’s worth thinking about how you market the service and how you maximise patient usage. Whilst Patient Partner isn’t cheap, it does provide good value for money. In fact, overall it’s an excellent system that does exactly what it says on the tin.”

The Chair of the Health Select Committee, the Rt. Hon Stephen Dorrell MP, visited Voice Connect to see for himself the automated telephone appointment booking system it provides for GPs’ practices.  Mr Dorrell visited the offices to learn more about how the company is working with GPs to improve patient access and reduce call congestion. The system, known as Patient Partner, is installed in over 600 GP practices across the UK.

The company’s board members met with Mr Dorrell during his 90 minute tour of the premises.  Voice Connect MD Stefan Olsberg was delighted to meet with the MP and have the opportunity to discuss the Government’s health plans.  “Mr Dorrell was able to tell us about his personal experiences of booking doctors’ appointments.  He seemed genuinely impressed by the time and cost savings that Patient Partner can offer GPs,” comments Mr Olsberg. “He was clearly aware of the issues surrounding both small businesses and the health sector and spoke with a refreshing honesty about both.”

Elected as Chair of the Health Select Committee in 2010, Mr Dorrell comments “Voice Connect is an interesting example of a company that is solving a very real problem; in their case problems around booking GP appointments by using technology.  During our meeting I learned a great deal about the lengths that they have gone to in working with clinical databases, practice managers and patients.  The result is that they appear to have created a product that saves money for practice managers and enhances the service available to patients.”

Voice Connect celebrated its 20^th year in business earlier in 2011.  The company also works with universities, police forces and local authorities across the UK. Most recently, the company has started developing mobile phone apps as well as continuing to extend its larger scale telecoms products.

Mr Dorrell visited the Voice Connect offices on Thursday 5th May and met the directors and key staff who demonstrated some of the company’s latest hi-tech developments.

White Medical Group is located just outside the border of Newcastle upon Tyne and consists of three sites: the main surgery is located in the village of Ponteland, with branch sites at Wylam and Stamfordham. The practice employs 6 doctors, 2 nurses and 19 admin staff for a patient list of just under 7,000 residents in total. With the three surgeries covering a large geographical area which includes both urban and rural communities, the patient demographic is varied.

The demands made on a modern GP practice are steadily increasing, and whilst the number of reception staff at White Medical Group had remained constant for some years, their workload was continually rising. The partners and practice manager decided that installing an automated phone appointment booking system could be one way of reducing this pressure, and so went live with their Patient Partner system in October 2009.

Although Patient Partner is installed at over 600 surgeries nationwide (with that number steadily rising), there were no surgeries in the area using Patient Partner at that time. This meant that the practice manager James Young was unable to see the system working in situ prior to installation.

“Although Voice Connect’s demonstration was very good, we weren’t certain that the reality would live up to it,” James explains. “We couldn’t go and see the system in action in a real surgery which made it hard to uncover any flaws, so it felt like a bit of a leap in the dark to have the system installed, particularly in relation to the integration with our clinical and phone systems.”

However, these concerns proved to be unfounded, and whilst it took a little adjustment to integrate the system with EMIS during installation, once installed everything has run efficiently. “Voice Connect ironed out the inevitable teething issues very quickly,” comments James. “Since going live we haven’t had any problems at all.  Everything has worked reliably – in fact, I have been very impressed with Voice Connect’s level of support.”

James also reports that the system has been well received by the majority of patients at the surgery and that uptake has steadily increased as patients become more familiar with Patient Partner. “Generally elderly patients can take a while to get used to the technology, but this has become easier with time,” he explains. “There was some initial concern that we would force people to use the service, but this was never going to be the case. The system is great and we find that once a patient has used it they never go back to the old system of ringing a receptionist. Some patients will always prefer speaking to a real person, so we have the best of both worlds by having both options. We plan to extend our marketing efforts with help from Voice Connect in order to continue increasing patient usage still further.”

Patient Partner’s best three features are:

1. The integration between the phone system and the clinical system.
2. The stability of the IT platform.
3. The ability to book appointments at any time which has also reduced receptionist workload.

James reports that Patient Partner has had a positive impact on call handling and general communication at all the surgeries, reducing call congestion, particularly at peak call times. The system has freed up time for receptionists, whilst making it easier for patients to contact the surgery. “The system has enabled us to monitor how we handle calls and make further improvements by providing useful statistics which allow phone usage to be closely monitored,” he adds.

“Our experience of Patient Partner has generally been very positive and if a surgery similar to ours was considering installing the system, I‘d advise them to go for it as it’s definitely worthwhile if you want to take some of the existing workload pressure off reception staff. Prior to installation, it’s worth thinking about how you market the service and how you maximise patient usage. Whilst Patient Partner isn’t cheap, it does provide good value for money. In fact, overall it’s an excellent system that does exactly what it says on the tin.”