Case Study: West Essex NHS CCG

About West Essex Clinical Commissioning Group

West Essex Clinical Commissioning Groups aim is to make sure the people of Epping Forest, Harlow and Uttlesford have access to and get the very best possible care when they need it and live long, healthy and happy lives.

Bringing together the 35 GP practices across the area as the West Essex Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), they set the priorities for local NHS services to ensure they are right for all who live here. Under the guidance of the GPs - based on their clinical expertise, knowledge and understanding of the communities they care for - West Essex CCG, monitor and commission most of the health services in west Essex.

This includes hospital, A&E, community health, mental health and rehabilitation services, as well as continuing healthcare for people with, for example, learning disabilities or physical frailties. Ensuring these services meet local needs and are provided to the highest standard. With the help of clinicians and the experiences and views of patients, they identify where improvements are necessary and that Government funding is spent wisely.

The Challenge

Based across a number of buildings at Spencer Close on the St Margarets Hospital Campus in Epping Essex, West Essex CCG had a legacy Philips Sopho phone system with ISDN30 attached. They had a few DDI numbers and approximately 100 extensions.

Although they had a full-fibre network connecting the buildings, the copper network was limited meaning that a number of locations couldn’t have phones where required and many users were sharing handsets.

The age of the system also meant that all incoming calls were bottlenecked through a very busy reception team with no call queuing and very limited use of an Auto Attendant.

Furthermore, their line rental and call charges were in the region of £1,000 per month. They had no on-site management of the system so any programming changes had to be ordered in advance and paid for on top of their support contract. The CCG also spent thousands of pounds each year to use BT’s conference call facility.

The Solution

After being recommended, the CCG met with Keith Hobson from Atlas Support along with other providers. Atlas Support offered several options and went through the relevant pros and cons of each one before focussing on the IP Cortex Pro System.

An EFM circuit with 40 x SIP trunks and 160 x DDI numbers was installed into the main building. The IP Cortex Pro system with a High Availability pair chassis was also installed for extra resilience. By using their estate-wide fibre network, Atlas Support were able to deploy all the additional handsets required across the various buildings.

A number of conference phones were supplied along with the IP Cortex and its inbuilt conference bridge, which saved the need for BT’s conference facility.

The CCG also required iPhones on a short term contract to support their COVID-19 response which Atlas Support turned around and delivered to site within 48 hours.

The Results

West Essex Clinical Commissioning Group has seen significant benefits from the solution provided by Atlas Support.

• Simplified call management: The implementation of network based call queuing and Auto Attendant allowed inbound calls to go directly to the relevant departments and individuals rather than waiting for a receptionist to become available.
  
  
• Stronger business continuity: The CCG was able to turn on Keevio (IPCortex’s inbuilt softphone) straight away which allowed users to work from home as though they were in the office.
  
  
• Better patient service: The flexibility of this service and the IP Cortex has meant that calls can be redirected around the estate according to different times of day as and when required and the reception desk is no longer a bottleneck.
  
  
• More agility: When the unexpected happens, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, West Essex CCG have the capacity to seamlessly transition to a more remote workforce, without compromising patient care.
  
  

“Our experience with Atlas Support has been exemplary. From our initial meeting, right through the project management and installation stage and the ongoing support. Our account manager Keith is superb. Nothing is too much trouble and we have every confidence in his advice and knowledge.

The support team is great and always quick to respond to our ever changing needs. While a change in supplier is often a daunting process, we have certainly made the right choice with Atlas Support and would happily recommend them.

As an NHS service our focus always remains on providing the best patient care possible but we are also governed by strict budgetary constraints. Atlas Support were able to deliver an exceptional solution that met our needs and more importantly, delivered significant cost savings"

- Jolene Truman, IT Manager, West Essex Clinical Commissioning Group.