Imperial College to go live with Netcall’s contact centre solution

Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust has announced plans to upgrade to a cloud-based contact centre solution that connects data, systems, teams and communication channels.

The Converse CX, solution from Netcall is expected to go live in spring 2025 and is intended to increase patient engagement and drive productivity.

Linda Watts, associate director of digital transformation at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust said: “Currently when our call handlers pick up the phone to a patient all they see is the number they are calling in on.

“Once the upgrade is complete, the agent will be provided with all the vital patient context and history they need to provide a seamless experience, before they answer.

“We believe this will result in an improved patient experience and approximately a minute saved per call which given we have 960,000 calls coming into the Patient Service Centre each year, will equate to a significant saving on time for the trust.”

The contact centre solution is hoped to deliver benefits including improved patient experience via a range of digital channels, reduced call times and volumes, and increased patient throughput by equipping agents with a complete 360-degree view of past and future patient engagements.

It will also include a patient service centre agent AI-driven knowledge base and an automated identification process at the start of each interaction before the patient is passed on to an agent.

Netcall said that this solution can reduce call length by an average of 57 seconds, helping to minimise long wait times within booking centres, which will make it easier for patients to get the help they need.

For patients who do not wish to contact the trust via telephone or email, AI-powered webchat with translation capability will also be available following the upgrade, enabling patients to ask questions and receive  responses in their chosen language.

The online chatbots will be trained with information provided by the trust including content from the website to provide instant responses, offering significant savings and productivity gains whilst allowing patients to self-serve where appropriate.

John Clarke, head of healthcare solutions at Netcall, said: “In today’s demanding healthcare landscape, patient service centre agents need to have the right information, at the right time in one unified view, rather than having to check different systems.

“The single holistic picture of relevant information, provided via the new AI-driven case management system provides greater pertinent transparency to service centre staff and patients alike.

“This enables staff to provide a more caring, personalised service and allows the organisation to be more proactive in managing a patient’s journey.”

In May 2024, Liverpool Women’s NHS Foundation Trust announced plans to roll out Netcall’s patient engagement portal in autumn 2024 with the aim of giving patients greater autonomy over their healthcare journeys.