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[grahamwales] 28/11/2017 12:57

Vocare seemed to have good and bad management. Bring the regions together and get the best management team running 111 service. Simple lol

[grahamwales] 28/11/2017 12:49

Not sure if India or anywhere outside is a good idea? However having either an option of calls diverting after say 30 seconds or better still having one location for all calls could solve the problem of peak calls at certain locations.

[macthepak] 28/11/2017 12:34

So are you saying thegrassisgreener that we should put sikhthetech and grahamwales in charge??

[sikhthetech] 28/11/2017 12:31

They bought Vocare a month ago....

They are making headway...


Vale of York:

"The contract extension further endorses the quality of care provided by Vocare in the region and follows the recent publication of four reports by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) which, the Company is pleased to announce, rated Vocare's services as good in all areas assessed."





Devon:

Following the transfer it became one of the country's first integrated urgent care service provider, and a sub-contracting agreement to provide the NHS 111 telephone service was made with Vocare, who provides urgent care services to 10 million patients across the UK."

"Devon Doctors was rated good overall by independent health and social care regulator the Care Quality Commission (CQC) following an announced three-day inspection in January. It was rated good in all areas."

[thegrassisgreener] 28/11/2017 12:19

But since TLY decided to buy vocare then everything they run became the shareholders problem. So I say it again Wendy & bob need sift out the old dead wood managers and get in new people and new strategies if we are to make any headway

[sikhthetech] 28/11/2017 12:11

thegrassisgreener,

There is a national problem with the NHS system...
How many patients die unnecessary in hospital because patients with non-life threatening go to A&E and clog up the system...

[thegrassisgreener] 28/11/2017 12:05

depends on the outcome I would have thought. If the unwell person is sent to the right service then no issue. But historically the deaths that have occurred indicate that improvements are needed and quick

[sikhthetech] 28/11/2017 11:58

Mac,

Yep, 111 call handlers go through a pre-defined list of questions, using NHS Pathways...
The point is the SAME software is used by 999 operators but I would have thought 111 call handlers are cheaper than 999 operators...


The list of questions are not made up but pre-determined by NHS...


"NHS Pathways is safe for patients:
- every call handler undergoes extensive training by clinicians, educational and IT specialists to ensure they use the system safely and effectively to give the best possible care to patients

- every question asked and every piece of care advice given is linked to at least three pieces of the most up to date clinical evidence

- there are over 800 symptom pathways within the clinical assessment tool

- it is under constant review and direction by the National Clinical Governance Group, which is made up of NHS clinicians with extensive experience in the urgent and emergency care services"


Importantly, do you need waste expensive 999 operators time... the software is reducing the number of ambulances being sent out by 999 operators...


"NHS Pathways and the Directory of services (DoS) create efficiency throughout the NHS:
- up to 15% of 999 calls are now closed without an ambulance being sent - before the introduction of NHS Pathways this was just 1%"

[macthepak] 28/11/2017 11:46

From what I can tell:

1. call handlers take the initial call
2. they assess the patients symptoms using clinical software
3. when they reach an end point they then tell the caller what to do and this can include things like dispatch ambulance, arrange out of hours GP appointments, transfer calls to 111 nurses etc

You would think this could be done from call centre in India or the Philippines

[sikhthetech] 28/11/2017 11:42

thegrassisgreener,

111 is for non-life threatening... there's the 999 service for life threatening calls....

I don't think having clinicians answering non-life threatening calls and asking a pre-defined list of questions is a good use of their expertise, is it?????


If 111 call handlers are not sure then there should be clinicians on hand to handle the call, I would have thought...

[thegrassisgreener] 28/11/2017 11:27

You’re thinking of nhs direct. Yes that was an efficient service and good cqc. but I’m sure it was health care professionals on the line and not call handlers. So it’s been done before.

[thegrassisgreener] 28/11/2017 11:12

The ambulance services that run 111 do this during busy times. Divert to another location to improve efficiency.

[grahamwales] 28/11/2017 10:51

What they need is one centre where all 111 calls are taken, less staff more efficient. Why do they need separate centres.

[grahamwales] 28/11/2017 10:14

Could also be down to how well call handlers are trained. If they are new and inexperienced they may take longer with a single caller than a more experienced person.

They need some way of perhaps diverting callers after a certain time to other call centres. Let's be honest though if someone is in need of a quicker response time then they should be calling 999 not 111.

What is the response time limit for 999 calls I wonder.

[sikhthetech] 28/11/2017 10:05

Mac, it'll depend on location...

according to Glassdoor, £8 hr...

[macthepak] 28/11/2017 10:01

grahamwales27 Nov '17 - 15:10 - 2089 of 2100

The call answer rate put it simply is based upon how many call handlers are free to take calls.

To increase the call answer rate Vocare need to employ more call handlers or better match call handler availability with expected call volume times.

The latter is difficult at best and the easiest is simply to employ more call handlers.

How much do they pay call handlers?

[grahamwales] 28/11/2017 08:18

Opo

Try and keep up, directors already bought more.

[grahamwales] 28/11/2017 07:48

So your shorting then, fair enough at least we know why your posts are all negative.

[thegrassisgreener] 28/11/2017 07:44

I just read widely and it’s all there to view. It’s all about making money isn’t it? Very disappointing.

[grahamwales] 27/11/2017 17:33

Greengrass

So come on tell why your so down on Vocare, were you employed with them, are you part of unison that oppose private health, are you shorting TOTALLY?. What is your reason for constant negative posts.

[thegrassisgreener] 27/11/2017 17:23

And it’s a worry when they remain and an even bigger worry when they are not fired. Incompetent failing management of vocare/northern Doctors still in place. Why?

[grahamwales] 27/11/2017 16:31

I think the word is fired lol.