Exchange Communications, the UK’s leading supplier of smart telephony solutions, has upgraded the telecom solution in place across the NHS Lanarkshire facilities, completely transforming the way the NHS board operates.
The upgrade delivered 7,000 extension users and 100 of the call centre positions.
NHS Lanarkshire, the third-largest health board in Scotland, serves a population of 655,000 across rural and urban communities in Lanarkshire and employs around 12,000 staff working in communities, health centres, clinics and offices.
Glasgow-based Exchange delivered a new Contact Centre as a Service Solution (CCaaS), providing an upgraded patient experience, a seamless system for NHS staff to use, as well as improving the switchboard and GP call handling, and general users’ accessibility.
The result is an enhanced customer service experience, full integration of the critical National Sexual Health System (NaSH) database, better visibility of contacts and more efficient reporting. Crucially, the new solution supports working from any device, anywhere, and at any time.
NHS Lanarkshire’s cloud-based solution has no requirement for additional applications to be installed on its networks, and relies on neither servers nor powered consumables. This means employees can work continuously and flexibly, logging in from any device, anywhere, and at any time. A full training program was also delivered to all NHS Lanarkshire staff.
Working with their cloud-based service solution partner, Content Guru, the project was a first for an NHS board in Scotland – and includes Exchange-developmed sexual health software that helps keep patient test results secure.
Future plans for further collaboration include the development of an AI webchat tool for NHS FAQs.
Tom Sime, CEO of Exchange Communications, which operates in more than 100 countries worldwide and has been responsible for delivering the most connected hospitals, travel hubs, sports arenas, office spaces and shopping centres across the UK, was delighted to take on such a project.
He said: “We are delighted to have successfully installed this innovative solution for NHS Lanarkshire, Scotland’s third-largest health board, serving nearly 700,000 patients.
“The new installation will make a huge difference to the patient experience, but also to NHS Lanarkshire staff and will ensure the security of patient information.
“Once again, collaborating with Content Guru to develop a bespoke solution was an absolute pleasure and I’m confident that, together, we have delivered a top-class installation to aid the local NHS trusts.”
Martin Taylor, Co-Founder and Deputy CEO of Content Guru, Europe’s leading Customer Experience (CX) technology provider, added: “Working with Exchange Communications, we have been able to deliver a secure and resilient communications platform that is essential for both patients and clinicians.
“We are proud to support NHS Lanarkshire as it continues its digital transformation to boost efficiency while improving the patient experience.”