MORE THAN 100,000 calls to NHS 24’s 111 service have been taken on its new technology platform since the system was launched a month ago this week. The new system has now been successfully implemented and calls from across Scotland to the national out of hours service are being delivered.
Following an initial roll out of the system in partnership with NHS Ayrshire and Arran in May 2017, a major programme of staff training and partner engagement was put in place so that the technology could be implemented on a national basis before the busy winter period.
This involved 1100 frontline staff being trained and over 20,000 hours of training delivered, while at the same time continuing to deliver out of hours care to patients calling the service.
Cabinet Secretary for Health Shona Robison said: “NHS 24 provides a vital service to the people of Scotland so it was important they took the time to test their new technology system ahead of a national rollout, especially as this was one of the biggest public sector technology implementations in the past decade.
“I would like to pass on my thanks to all staff for their hard work in ensuring its’ success whilst also continuing to deliver high quality care to people across Scotland.”
NHS 24’s Chief Executive Angiolina Foster, CBE, said: “The implementation of this new technology system has required an incredible effort and focus from everyone across NHS 24. With the history of this project, it was vital that we were able to ensure that our staff and partners were fully prepared for the change and had all of the support they needed to deliver the system.
“The technology is now in place and has been running for a month and while, as with every large scale technology project, there are a few minor issues to iron out, our staff have adapted brilliantly to the system and we are continuing to deliver high quality care to many thousands of patients throughout the country.
“I would like to thank everyone who has supported this and worked in partnership with NHS 24 to ensure that we could deliver this change and we can now get on and develop our important range of digital health and care services to support the rest of NHS Scotland and our patients.”
In addition to ensuring the technology was fully functional, preparing and supporting NHS 24 was a major factor in delivering the system successfully. There has been a huge effort to deliver months of training to staff across our centres, while maintaining service to the public and many support staff were also involved in supporting the change.
Aberdeen Call handler Ben Cairns Stuart said: “It’s been quite a change using the new technology but now that I’ve got the hang of it, it’s great. I think it’ll be a lot better for staff and the people who call our services in the future.”
Clyde Nurse Practitioner Marjory Mellon said: “In the run up to the launch of the new system this time the training and support have been excellent. And while the system takes us a bit more time to navigate at the moment as we’re getting used to it, it has been designed in such a way that it provides us nurses with the support to continue providing effective patient centred care, with easier access to information needed. Something we are really pleased with.”
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