The challenge
The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust faced several pressing challenges, many of which are common across NHS organisations nationwide. These included the need to reduce waiting lists, enhance patient engagement and improve patient communication across the Trust.
To address these challenges, the Trust took a step back to reassess its broader digital, data and technology strategy, considering its role within the wider healthcare system. Recognising the potential of automation, they moved quickly to implement solutions that would streamline administrative tasks, increase efficiency and empower patients to digitally book and manage their appointments.
Serving a diverse, multi-cultural and multi-generational community, the Trust was committed to offering accessibility and choice to all patients. The vision they developed was to deliver the best digital experiences for both their workforce and the communities they serve. They emphasised that digital transformation isn’t just about enhancing clinical workflows – it’s about shaping the entire organisation, from back-office operations to patient interactions.
A complete patient journey of communication and connection
Rotherham has enhanced its digital transformation with the adoption of Netcall’s Liberty for Health platform. From validating waiting lists rapidly, supporting patients to wait well, digitising diagnostic appointments, to next generation contact centre solution technology to engage with patients through their chosen channel at every touchpoint.
“Netcall’s Health platform provides far more than ‘a portal’. It’s a comprehensive suite of solutions designed to engage patients in the way they prefer. From the moment they are referred, through their waiting period, to booking appointments and diagnostic tests, all the way to discharge, the platform supports them every step of the way. By providing communication options that promote inclusivity and diversity, both digitally and analogically, we can reach more patients and improve outcomes, simplifying communication between patients and the NHS.”
James Rawlinson
Director of Health Informatics, The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust
The solution
While a patient who is being referred for treatment waits for an appointment to be scheduled, can be stressful – and often results in a significant share of the calls received by the Trust’s booking centre.
By introducing the Waiting Well module of Patient Hub, Rotherham can easily provide patients with digital updates, answers and advice to help them prepare for their procedure. Easing the anxiety of patients reduces their need to call.
Incoming calls reduced by 12% – equivalent to 500 calls per week from patents checking if there was an update or any news. The improved communication also had a cumulative effect of reducing the waiting list by 10%.
“We’ve freed up operators so they can spend more time on the phone with patients who have complex cases. It’s better for those who can use tech. And it’s also better for people that don’t want to use the tech. We have ensured that everyone, regardless of age, diversity, culture or disability, has access to a communication method that works for them – and it also works for the Trust.”
Sally Atkinson, Patient Engagement Portal – Programme Head, The Rotherham NHS Trust
Previously, administrators were tasked with calling each patient on a waiting list every 12 weeks to check whether they still needed to be on the list. As this was in excess of 30,000 patients, it was a near impossible task.
Introducing the Waiting List Validation module of Patient Hub meant that this 12-week check was automated and sent digitally via SMS.
The impact was instant. The workload was suddenly removed from the team. Calls into the into the contact centre significantly reduced from day one.
And now patients are discharging themselves from waiting lists at a rate of around 8.3% – meaning those patients don’t need any further support from the Trust, so the remaining patients can move closer to appointment slots and treatment.
Diagnostic bookings were a critical challenge for the Trust, as 90% of outpatient appointments require diagnostic tests, and delays in these tests often lead to postponed treatments. High DNA rates and long waiting times for appointments further exacerbated the issue. The Trust needed to improve productivity, reduce missed appointments and decrease the backlog of patients awaiting care.
First, they implemented Liberty Converse, our omnichannel contact centre solution, in the diagnostic booking centre, after deploying the same technology in their main outpatient booking centre. Instead of one single phone line, patients are now queuing on the phone in an orderly fashion, rather than getting an engaged tone or voicemail. They go into a modern telephony queue and booking agents can see how many people are waiting and for how long – so they can answer the call accordingly.
The next phase was the implementation of a digital Diagnostic solution. This automated the booking of radiology appointments by directly pulling data from the Radiology Information System when a patient is referred. This not only simplifies the process for patients, allowing them to select the most convenient appointment times, but also reduces the administrative burden on the booking team, with 30-40% of bookings now handled online. This gives patients more control over their appointment scheduling and provides greater flexibility in how they communicate with the Trust.
The impact was immediate. Call volumes to the booking centre decreased significantly, resulting in a reduction in call wait times.
With Converse deployed, the booking agents have a modern contact centre solution to work with, they can see if patients have come through the digital booking system but have dropped out to speak to an agent. With all the details to hand for agents, the calls are quicker to complete and patients receive an all-round better experience.
Rotherham saw results almost instantly from the Diagnostic Booking application.
As patients engaged with online bookings and picked appointment times which suited their own schedules, it caused a reduction in DNA rates. DNA rates fell from 8% to 2%, against a backdrop of a UK NHS average DNA rate of 7.6%.
Productivity in the booking centre improved by 30-40% as a proportion of people self-serving online affected call volumes.
“Patients have more choice and convenient ways to communicate with us – they have control and access. Now that 30-40% of people are booking online, call volumes have reduced, DNA rates have dropped and we’re seeing fantastic improvements in productivity.“
Steven Cheung
Radiology Systems Manager, The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust
The result
Waiting Well
Waiting list validation streamlined
automating the 12-week check-in process via SMS with 8.3% patients self-discharging from waiting lists
12% Reduction incoming calls
improved communication with patients on waiting lists resulted in a reduction of 500 calls per week
Diagnostics
DNA rate 8% to 2%
in Diagnostics – enabling better utilisation of appointments and reducing missed appointments
Call wait cut by 7%
average wait time decreased
Productivity boosted by 30-40%
more patients self-served online, reducing the burden on booking centre staff and improving operational efficiency
Enhanced patient experience
capturing patient responses and providing reassuring information leading up to appointments provides smoother operations and better service
Verified by The Rotherham NHS Trust – February 2025
Hear it for yourself
The next exciting developments
Rotherham is planning to introduce Liberty Converse CX, which will enable live language translation on webchats and support their drive to address inequalities. They also aim to enhance patient communications by deploying our PRM solution. This will facilitate back-office case management and tracking, while providing booking centre agents with a comprehensive pop-up, displaying all relevant patient information on one screen when a call comes in.
Read more: The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust | Reducing Call Volumes by 28% Using an Autonomous Agent