Trial of Outsourced Reception Telephony

What is happening?

Our practice has experienced significant challenges over recent weeks due to staff absence and resource changes, which have had a direct impact on our Care Navigation (Reception) and Administration teams.

Reception services are our main point of patient contact and a vital part of our system. Staff sickness absence is unavoidable and largely unpredictable, however sickness absence has a ‘domino’ effect on all areas of the practice as we have to ‘pull’ staff from other roles to cover our telephones and Reception cover. This then causes a further backlog of work in these other areas, which has an ongoing knock-on effect across the practice. It is essential that we are able to staff Reception, both in terms of telephony and desk-based cover, to ensure the practice can continue to operate and serve our patients. Therefore, it is essential that we have a solution to mitigate the effects of sickness absence, that we can engage at short notice.

At the start of September, we began to trial the introduction of outsourced telephone resource provided by a UK based company, who already provide us with administrative services. Essentially, during the busiest hours of the day (from 8am to 10am), we have had additional receptionists on our phones who work remotely, using our own systems and interacting with our patients in exactly the same way that our in-house Care Navigation team does. Importantly, the arrangement ensures that when our staff resource is low due to absence, we can increase our use of this outsourced telephone service, allowing the staff who are present in the building to focus on patients who come to our Reception desk. We are hopeful that this innovative solution will complement the strengths we already have in this area and will support our patients ability to access our services.

Who is being used for outsourced telephony?

We have been using the services of General Practice Solutions (GPS) since March 2025 for administrative support. GPS are an established UK-based company who work with GP surgeries across the country to provide a range of services. The company was formed by individuals who have extensive experience of the NHS and of GP surgeries in particular.

Importantly, the practice has robust arrangements and agreements with the provider with regard to their staff:

• The provider’s staff have a minimum of 3 years NHS experience (this is something that our own practice does not insist on when hiring staff). Often these staff have permanent roles in the NHS already, and work additional hours for the provider in their own time.

• Accordingly, the provider’s staff all have verified NHS Smartcard access to clinical systems as practice staff have Partners: Dr L J Wilton Dr K J Woodier Dr J A Clark Mr A Climie

• We have a pool of named staff who are assigned to conduct telephone work for Arthur Medical Centre, although in practice usually only one is needed to work at a time. This ensures that we know the people who may be assigned to our phones

• We have access to the provider’s HR portal which allows us to confirm all the HR checks that we would do for a member of our own team (CV, References, DBS etc)

How does this help me access the practice?

It means that we are able to quickly arrange additional telephone support when we have staff absences and continue to serve our patients. The resource currently helps us to manage telephone demand at our peak times and enables us to keep our call waiting times down. We have had some days recently where a number of staff have been unwell and the outsourcer’s support allowed us to keep going as normal.

In short, it ensures that we can always answer our phones and see patients at the reception desk – even when we are short staffed.

What does this change for patients?

Essentially, nothing! Patients will still receive the same service by telephone that they have always received. The remote Care Navigators can book appointments, refer patients to other services and handle queries as patients would normally expect from our Care Navigation team.

However, during the first few weeks, it is understandable that the call handlers may need to ‘find their feet’ in the same way as any new Care Navigator/Receptionist would. We would ask for your patience while the team member assists you, just as it would be for a new member of staff. The additional telephone support at peak times will make a positive difference to call waiting times.

How is my privacy and personal data from my record protected?

Essentially, your personal data and privacy is protected in exactly the same way that it would normally be with permanent staff who we employ in the practice.

• The provider’s staff are bound by the same rules and laws as our own Care Navigators and are vetted in the same ways.

• The provider accesses the same secure NHS records systems that GP surgeries use, meaning your records and data are protected in exactly the same way. They also access telephony through our own service provider.

• We have robust data sharing agreements in place with the provider and confidentiality agreements completed in the same way we do with our own teams

• Regular audits and/or checks are performed to confirm compliance and quality