Barts and The London NHS Trust
Providing a huge range of clinical services to 2.5 million people living in east London, supporting them with the healthcare they need
The Barts Health group of hospitals provides a huge range of clinical services to around 2.5 million people living in east London and beyond; operating from four major hospital sites (The Royal London, St Bartholomew’s, Whipps Cross and Newham) and a number of community locations. Barts Health is the largest NHS trust in the country, and one of Britain’s leading healthcare providers, home to world-renowned specialist centres, including cancer, cardiac and trauma and emergency care, as well as one of Britain’s biggest children’s hospitals. The Royal London is also the base of London’s Air Ambulance, one of the world’s leading pre-hospital medical services for victims of serious injury.
The Challenge
Barts & The London NHS Trust found themselves losing thousands of pounds through patients missing appointments. Their procedure was to send appointments by letter and assume that people would arrive at their given time. However, this wasn’t always the case and a missed appointment was costing £150 a time as well an empty place with a doctor that another patient could’ve benefitted from.
Telecoms World Solution
Working closely with Barts & The London NHS Trust, Telecoms World created a memorable 0800 number for the trust to use as an appointment confirmation line. We also incorporated Call Analytics so that they could review the call volumes and success of the new procedure. Call Divert was also integrated to offer a disaster recovery option should they needed to route calls to be answered at an alternative location.
Results
By only confirming appointments when a patient called the 0800 number, Barts & The London NHS Trust noticed a dramatic drop in missed appointments. If a patient hadn’t confirmed by a set date or needed to change the time they had been allocated, the trust was able to fill the empty places and keep departments running efficiently. The savings between missed appointments compared to their call costs is considerable, making the trust extremely pleased with their new procedure.
Customer Requirements
- See more patients
- Needed to save money
- Change appointment procedure
Solution Components
- Call Divert
- Call Analytics
- Memorable 0800 number
