Portsmouth NHS Trust maternity team enhances patient experience

Patient waiting times to receive an appointment have reduced from 6-8 weeks to just 24 hours

Portsmouth NHS Trusthas significantly improved patient experiences by automating appointments, referrals and record management processes.

In a first-of-its-kind deployment, Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust’s Maternity Services & Midwifery unit has worked with intelligent automation companies, Digital Workforce and PSTG, to boost patient experiences.

Since the project began, patient waiting times to receive an appointment have reduced from 6-8 weeks to just 24 hours, while appointment capacity has increased by a third.

Furthermore, the deployment has saved 18,000 hours of staff time, the equivalent of £225,000 in internal staffing costs or 12 full-time employees.

Significantly, the Trust has cut a considerable backlog which, at its height, saw 5,000 patients waiting for appointments.

The Trust incorporated Digital Workforce’s Intelligent Automation technology by feeding it with the processes of an end-to-end patient journey, along with the required safety standards. After testing, the solution was deployed to run constantly, capturing and sharing data across multiple applications.

Lynn Woolley, director of maternity services & midwifery at the Trust, explained: “Working with Digital Workforce and PSTG has allowed us to intelligently automate many administrative tasks that took up valuable staff time, increasing accuracy and the speed at which we can work.

She added: “As a result, patients are notified of appointments faster, with greater control over when and where they are seen, while those considered high-risk are prioritised to receive the treatment and experience they need.”

Josh Clift, head of intelligent automation at the Trust, reflected: “I’m extremely passionate about intelligent automation, but you can’t do this alone. To utilise the technology requires a complete transformation, which means bringing in trusted partners, such as Digital Workforce and PSTG, to bring in that expertise and knowledge that can be the difference between success and failure.”

He concluded: “We’ve altered people processes and the department’s culture to leverage technology, which the results have demonstrated were worth the investment.”