The £250 million patient and citizen communication framework agreement helps public sector organisations boost attendance rates and engagement.
Corporate services provider, NHS Shared Business Services (NHS SBS), has launched a new procurement framework agreement to help public sector organisations, including NHS trusts, improve the way they communicate with their patients and service users.
The Patient/Citizen Communication, Engagement and Hybrid Mail Solutions framework agreement includes fully vetted suppliers, who can provide everything from chatbots to SMS messaging to mail processing.
With missed appointments (Did Not Attends or DNAs) costing the NHS an estimated £1.2 billion each year, providing patients and service users with swift, efficient, two-way communication is vital.
“Effective communication is vital in any organisation – but even more so in the NHS, when lives can depend on it. Unfortunately, NHS organisations aren’t always quick to adopt new communication technologies – some trusts are still using fax machines and analogue pagers,” said senior category manager Kelly Harris.
Cost-effective
By using a framework agreement, organisations can swiftly and compliantly procure the technology and support they need to ensure that essential communication – like appointment notifications and reminders – are in place, saving time and money.
Other services which can be procured via the new framework agreement include workforce communication, including one and two-way mobile audio messaging and digital pagers; call handling via call centres and the provision of patient portals and smartphone apps.
The framework agreement consists of seven lots: digital communication, including the provision of automated one- and two-way internet-based communication services such as portals, smartphone apps and email; messaging, including the provision of automated one- and two-way digital messaging, SMS, digital paging and alerting; and voice communication, including the provision of an agent calls service based in a call centre and interactive voice response (IVR), including intelligent call routing and patient self-service.
It also consists of hybrid mail, including the provision of on- or off-site bulk mail, both traditional and electronic; patient/citizen experience, including the provision of surveys and feedback analysis and data collection; workforce communication, including the provision of one- and two-way audio messaging, digital paging and alerting services; and combined solutions – encompassing elements from various lots with a single supplier and a sole contract.
“Using a framework agreement like ours enables all public sector organisations to swiftly and compliantly procure reliable and cost-effective ways of communicating with their patients, staff and service users,” said Harris.
