The NHS has evolved, and so have patients’ needs.

Today’s patients are more digitally savvy and expect convenient, accessible healthcare services that fit their lifestyles. Providing the digital access and self-service environments they desire will increase operational efficiencies for the NHS. Yet busy front desk staff are still handling numerous repetitive enquiries, resulting in clogged switchboards and patients being unable to get the information they need quickly.

Making investments in the future of patient care

NHS trusts work hard to keep staff and patients safe. However, many find that outdated communication methods lead to complications—given they often involve maintaining a variety of legacy phone technologies all patched together.

In March 2024, it was announced that the Chancellors ‘Budget for Long Term Growth’ will provide NHS England with a £2.5 billion day-to-day funding boost. It also committed to invest £3.4 billion in new tech and digital transformation, with the goal of unlocking productivity savings offered by AI to deliver better public services. For many trusts, this will include ditching ageing communications systems and implementing modern cloud-based contact centre technology.

Thinking beyond emergency healthcare

When we think of contact centres in the NHS, we tend to think of 111 or 999 services. However, that’s just one small piece of the puzzle. Integrating contact centre technology deeper into the NHS ecosystem offers a powerful solution to embrace AI, enhance patient experiences, optimise resources, and streamline communication across the healthcare landscape.

5 benefits of the contact centre in the NHS

The NHS benefits from incorporating contact centre capabilities into their operations in the following ways:

  1. Unclogging telephone lines and reducing answer time
  2. Speeding up journeys through care pathways
  3. Improving front desk efficiency
  4. Reducing missed appointments
  5. Removing the guesswork for better planning

Let’s explore each of these in more detail below.

Unclogging telephone lines and reducing answer time

Patients are constantly calling providers for information and assistance. They ask about parking at facilities and opening hours. They ask to be routed to specific departments so they can make, check, or change appointments. These requests are valid but are time-consuming to process. Reducing these repetitive enquiries can make a significant impact on improving answer times and achieving zero abandoned calls. 8x8 Contact Center delivers all the features of a traditional telephone system, with the added advantage of AI and automation technology to enable self-service and omnichannel communications to improve patient access to services.

While increasing the number of communication channels to address different patient needs, it’s important to have the tools to effectively handle these channels and provide the personal touch with conversational AI and a seamless transition from self-service to human environments.

Speeding up journeys through care pathways

Siloed workstreams and poor communications can delay patient journeys through care pathways. When systems such as Microsoft Teams, EPR systems, and other business applications are integrated into a communications platform, employees across acute care, community care, and mental health departments can connect effortlessly. This level of integration provides staff with access to the information they need and the tools to collaborate for faster decision-making, improving patient journeys.

Using the 8x8 platform, contact centre agents, clinicians, and administration staff connect through chat, video, and voice, with Presence to easily identify teams and individuals available when support is required.

Improving front desk efficiency

Upgrading from traditional telephony to 8x8 contact centre technology provides a host of benefits to improve efficiency and patient experiences:

  • Increased access through omnichannel for digital interactions
  • Better patient experiences with conversational AI to route calls directly to the right departments
  • Accessible and inclusive services with AI translation into 100+ languages for accessibility
  • Digitalisation for 24 hours access to FAQs
  • Personalisation with EPR integration and a seamless handoff from self-service to human environments
  • Cost savings through simplified IT Management and Microsoft Teams integrations to maximise existing investments

Reducing missed appointments

Missed appointments continue to be a challenge for the NHS, wasting resources and contributing to delays in the treatment of other patients. NHS England reports around 1 in 15 appointments go unattended, costing millions, and an estimated 6.3m patients waiting to start treatments.

Using 8x8 allows patients to connect easily with the right teams through conversational AI and chatbots. These help people get the information they need and enable them to book and reschedule appointments, reducing the number of appointments that go unattended.

When patients need to check or reschedule an appointment, they can simply tell 8x8’s Intelligent Customer Assistant (ICA) what they want to do. They will be automatically routed to the right resource to resolve their issue, reducing the number of calls clogged switchboards need to handle.

Removing the guesswork for better planning

It can be difficult for CIOs in the NHS to prioritise where to invest time and money to get the best ROI due to a lack of information. Powerful statistics across all communication channels provide business leaders using 8x8 Contact Centre analytics with real-time and historic reporting and data-driven insights to identify trends, increase operational efficiency, and deliver on strategic goals.

As a case in point: Armed with the right details and reports to show abandoned calls, average call wait, and call duration, The Princess Alexandra NHS Trust were able to double the number of calls they handled and drive down missed appointments, which can cost £300-800 each.

Better use of data plays an important part in KPI management and better staff resourcing. With budgets tight, leaders can struggle to justify the need for additional staff without the data-driven insights to show exactly when calls are coming in and what those calls are about.

Speech analytics allow you to drill down to what is being asked, by how many people, at what time of the day, and what day of the week. This gives NHS leaders the power to manage staff levels, handle busy times more effectively, and save on overstaffing during quieter times. Speech and sentiment analytics also provide essential insights to highlight training requirements, speed up enquiry resolution, become more productive, and deliver better patient experiences.

Delivering long-term growth

Managing tight budgets and delivering on digital transformation is simplified with 8x8. Unlock the productivity savings offered by AI, connect patients and workforces, and deliver on the long-term goals of the NHS.

Discover more about Contact Centers for NHS.

Download the guide Maximising patient access and experience.

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