Customer Spotlight: Liverpool Women’s NHS Trust Leads the Way in Digital Inclusion

17th July 2025

by John Clarke

How a Patient Engagement Portal is helping deliver more compassionate, inclusive care

Across the NHS, digital communication and engagement with patients is accelerating—but Liverpool Women’s NHS Foundation Trust is proving that progress isn’t just about new technology. It’s about how that technology is used and more importantly, who it’s designed for.

By working in close partnership with our team at Netcall, Liverpool Women’s has transformed their patient engagement strategy using our Liberty Platform Patient Engagement Portal (PEP). The goal? To build systems that open doors instead of putting up walls and ensure no one is left behind – regardless of language, background or digital confidence.

This is a story of inclusion by design, not assumption.

The challenge: outdated communication and the real-life consequences

Like many trusts across the NHS, Liverpool Women’s faced growing communication challenges. Appointment letters often arrived late – or not at all. Phone calls went unanswered during shift work or childcare. For patients juggling complex lives, these missed connections weren’t just administrative problems – they were missed opportunities for care.

Patients like Nadia, who works night shifts and shares a phone with her partner, slipped through the cracks. She didn’t receive a timely appointment letter. She missed two calls and, unknowingly, was discharged back to her GP. Her experience was a powerful wake-up call: modernising communication isn’t just a technical upgrade – it’s a matter of safety, equity and dignity.

The solution: A flexible, inclusive patient portal

Liverpool Women’s didn’t want a one-size-fits-all digital tool – they wanted a platform that reflected the real needs of their community. Using Netcall’s Patient Engagement Portal, the Trust co-designed a flexible system tailored to their patients including:

• Appointment letters rewritten in plain English
• Top 10 languages available for translated content
• Consistent templates across all appointment types
• Calendar integration and NHS App connectivity
• Options for print, large print and Braille
• BSL video explainers, voiceovers and transcripts.

This wasn’t just a deployment – it was a rethinking of what inclusive healthcare communication should look like.

Making inclusion visible

To support the launch, Liverpool Women’s redesigned their patient communications campaign from the ground up. They created bright, accessible materials using plain language and introduced a friendly, recognisable mascot – to guide patients through the new process.

Clear posters, digital screens and leaflets featured QR codes that linked to audio versions and videos with sign language. Accessibility wasn’t hidden in a submenu – it was front and centre. 
 
And because awareness is essential to inclusion, the team made sure that every patient knew the platform existed, understood how to use it and had a choice in how they accessed their care.

The results: early wins and real impact

In just two weeks of launching the PEP in one clinic:

• 114 appointments were offered
• 75 patients responded digitally (66% uptake)
• Only 30 paper letters needed to be sent
• The trust saved over £1,200 in postage and admin.

But for Liverpool Women’s, this wasn’t just about efficiency—it was about empowering patients. Patients embraced digital not out of necessity, but because it genuinely fit into their lives.

Think older adults won’t embrace digital? The first two patients to log in were 74 and 80 years old – proof that age isn’t a barrier when the experience is built right.

Inclusion means expanding choice

Liverpool Women’s isn’t stopping here. They’ve partnered with the National Databank to offer free SIM cards and digital devices. They’re rolling out the portal across the Trust in more languages and integrating two-way messaging using Netcall’s Converse for real-time communication in patients’ preferred languages.

They’re also preparing to launch a “Waiting Well” module – offering support and updates during gaps between appointments.

All of this is guided by a clear philosophy: inclusion is not an add-on. It’s a design principle.

A model for the NHS

At Netcall, we’re proud to support Liverpool Women’s as they lead by example in building a system that meets people – on their terms, not the other way round. Their work shows that digital inclusion in the NHS isn’t just possible it’s essential.

When trusts move beyond default systems and co-create inclusive solutions, patient experience improves, staff burden decreases and communication becomes safer, smarter and more human.

“We didn’t just want to digitise – we wanted to do things better. To design tools that work for the people who use them, not just those who buy them.”

Liverpool Women’s NHS Trust

If your trust is facing similar challenges and wants to explore how Patient Hub, our Patient Engagement Portal could work for you, get in touch with our team. We’re here to help you build solutions that reflect the real world – not just the digital one.