NHS Highland – UC Analytics
Argyll and Bute Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) provides all health and social work services to a population of 85,000 across a large geographical area in the west of Scotland.
At a glance
The Issue
Though the telephony system was reliable and effective, peaks and troughs in usage – particularly during the busy winter period – were hard to predict. The team was reliant on anecdotal data and feedback to predict staffing requirements.
The Project
Maintel’s UC Analytics with Datatrack was integrated into the existing platform. The solution provides detailed real-time analytics through a customised dashboard.
The Outcome
The team can now make data-driven decisions to optimise staffing levels and telephony system usage. As accurate historical data accumulates, the team can also plan ahead based on clear trends and patterns.
The Background
With a mission to deliver services that help local people to live longer, healthier, happier, and independent lives, Argyle and Bute Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) are also committed to evaluating the best value use of public funding within their hospitals and practices.
Maintel had recently provided the Argyle & Bute HSCP team with a state-of-the-art, future-ready telephony solution within the 8 hospital environments, which also went on to benefit a small collection of GPs in the Oban area.
While the reliable and versatile solution improved communication across this geographically dispersed NHS team, they lacked insights into staff and customer usage of the telephony system.
The Challenge
Argyll and Bute HSCP had limited access to accurate, up-to-date analytical data and was instead heavily reliant on anecdotal data and feedback to assess the effectiveness of its telephony system.
Pressure on the system regularly increased during winter months and periods of extreme summer heat, when patient numbers and contacts increased. The team hoped to harness insights and enable better, data-driven decision-making to predict peaks and troughs, allowing them to optimise the business, and adjust staffing levels to deliver the best possible patient experience.
Additionally, following their investment in an updated system, the team wanted to understand internal usage, to ensure the most cost-effective communication consumption.
Why Maintel
Following the successful delivery of a managed telephony solution, Maintel and the Argyll and Bute HSCP team had a positive partner relationship. A conversation during a regular account management call touched on better-utilising data and reaching a greater understanding of how staff and patients used the system.
Maintel worked closely with partner Datatrack to design and deliver a comprehensive data analytics solution. Maintel UC Analytics would be integrated into the existing communications platform to give business stakeholders access to valuable insights, both as real-time data and – over time – historical trends.
The Solution
Maintel UC Analytics works with the leading UC platforms, unlocking powerful insights and enabling better, data-driven decision-making. Along with the workings of the organisation as a whole, it gives clarity into departmental performance, customer experience, and compliance.
Data is transformed into visual representations of how services are consumed in a flexible, tailored dashboard. Clear, accessible reports enable the democratisation of data to support and influence business decisions.
The data enables more return on the initial telephony investment, and paves the way for a longer term, insights-driven plan.
What are the benefits?
The Trust now has 9 months of historical data to enable more accurate handling of exceptionally busy periods and has been able to identify cost savings and efficiencies.
The team discovered that SIP trunk channels outnumbered maximum concurrent call volume, allowing them to make reductions. Additionally, each telephone number across the 8 sites has been analysed to establish its internal and external call use, and numerous telephone numbers and DDI ranges have been identified for removal, offering significant operational savings moving forward.
The solution provided an unexpected and potentially life-saving benefit soon after it was rolled out. A short outage of lines on a voice-only prescription request service led to calls not being recorded, risking patients not receiving critical medication. Within 5 minutes, Datatrack provided a complete list of all “missed” call numbers, allowing patients to be contacted, and prescription request details re-taken, avoiding major ramifications on patient health and care.
What the future holds?
The usage of the software package has evolved over the months, and the team has pinpointed possible future projects. Historical data may be analysed to establish the effects of tourism by assessing international number use, and the age distribution of callers by studying landline vs mobile usage.
While access to the platform is currently limited, the information gathered is cascaded throughout the whole organisation and utilised by specific departments to increase productivity and cut costs.
Going forward, the team would like every hospital to have access, with wall boards displaying visual analytics tailored to each department’s needs.
Client Testimonial
“I cannot thank the team enough. From the outset, the support I received in terms of training and development was absolutely fantastic. Datatrack gave me a comprehensive overview and understanding of how to utilise the software – it is now a critical tool on my desktop. It’s a fantastic tool and that enables us to optimise our system and utilise public money as efficiently as we can. Maintel UC analytics has enhanced and maximised our telephony system allowing us to utilise it to its full potential.”
Stuart Fyfe, Telephony and Digital Services Facilitator, Argyll and Bute HSCP
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