Health centre gets new patient communications link

A health centre has undergone a major telecommunications revamp to help further improve customer service for its 10,000 patients.

Roborough Surgery, in Eastcote Close, Plymouth, has had a new call handling system installed by IP Office Ltd based in Exeter, which hopes to boost service efficiency.

The new installation was completed last week and now call-handling is via a full commercial contact centre.

Karen Avery, reception manager at Roborough Surgery, said: “The new system will be up and running fully from July 7, but certainly what we are getting at the moment we are extremely pleased with.

“Without a doubt, having an efficient telecommunications system is crucial for us as we have more than 10,000 patients. We have had some training and we’re finding out all the time more and more that we can do with it. One of the biggest changes for me is that I can see how many calls are waiting to be answered and draw people from other areas of the building to help me if needed.”

Mark Collett, managing director of IP Office Ltd, said getting the right telecommunications system was vital that for a health centre of Roborough’s size.

Mark said: “We have installed a big system at Roborough Surgery Health Centre and it is now a full commercial contact centre, which will be vital to their service.

“This new system will help with the communication aspect of their service. Communication is something surgeries have to work hard on. The Government has set call handling times that go towards their QOF (Quality and Outcomes Framework) points. Surgeries like Roborough can earn themselves QOF points for things like; how well the practice is managed or how patients view their experience, which enables them to qualify for extra funding, so this is an important step for them.

“IP Office Ltd will now support them with any requirements they may have, should they have any faults, we’ll put it right, and we’ll continue to support them remotely free of charge.”

The contract was worth £20,000 and took week-and-a-half for the new system to be installed.

Mark added: “It is one of the biggest verticals and we are doing about five or six of these a month and, with the purchase of Bush Telegraph Ltd, it is possible we may have more portfolios than any other telecommunications firm in the South West.”

Last month, IP Office Ltd took over more than 300 customers of Truro-based telecommunications firm Bush Telegraph Ltd after it went into voluntary liquidation (May 28).