Using cloud-based service management, the IT team at Western Sussex has improved service levels and reduced cost.
London, United Kingdom (PRWEB) May 10, 2017
Freshdesk, the leading provider of cloud-based customer engagement software, announced that Western Sussex Hospitals has implemented cloud-based IT Service Management platform Freshservice to provide support and self-service functionality to more than 6,500 users at the Trust. Post go-live with Freshservice, Western Sussex Hospitals has seen an organisation-wide improvement in productivity thanks to increased self-service use, better IT service delivery and support processes, and greater customer satisfaction. The change in tool is also predicted to result in a significant cost saving over the next five years.
Given the complex IT environment of an acute hospital, the IT team faces significant pressures in being responsible for quickly resolving IT issues that directly affect patient care. Faced with organisation-wide discontent with the existing IT service desk, Grant Harris, Head of IT Operations at Western Sussex Hospitals, decided that an in-house service desk tool would help to resolve many of their issues.
However, one of the toughest challenges in the project was the need to set up the new service desk within three months due to the outsourced service desk contract coming to an end. The team was thus faced with a delivery deadline that couldn’t be extended at any cost.
“Western Sussex was rated as ‘Outstanding’ by the CQC (Care Quality Commission) in 2016 and the aim was to have an Outstanding IT service that matches the clinical services the Trust delivers. The team at Freshdesk was willing to go the extra mile to make sure the system met our needs,” commented Grant Harris, Head of IT Operations at Western Sussex Hospitals. “The look and feel of Freshservice is totally different from our previous tool; it works more like an email inbox than a standard list of outstanding jobs. Overall, Freshservice has been one of the best tools we have worked with – we found the configuration of Freshservice very easy to learn, and were able to automate many of the important workflows in a matter of weeks.”
Freshservice’s ease of configuration and customisation, especially in getting the self-service portal to suit their end-users’ requirements, delivered Western Sussex significant improvements across the organisation, beginning with improved perception of the IT team.
Automation also proved to be another big win for Western Sussex. Freshservice has notably reduced the time spent on calls, improved service level agreement (SLA) achievement by ensuring that the right IT support team member gets relevant tickets, and relieved the pressure on their busy IT team. Self-service usage has already improved from 10% to 34%, increasing productivity for both agents and users, while end-users need only wait 20 seconds for an agent to pick up their ticket, as compared to 15 minutes with the old tool.
Simon Johnson, UK General Manager at Freshdesk commented, “Any time spent waiting for IT support and service in a clinical environment is time when patient care can be held up. At the same time, NHS organisations are continually tasked with finding new efficiency savings and cost reductions. Using cloud-based service management, the IT team at Western Sussex has improved service levels and reduced cost. As a side benefit, the IT team at the Trust has seen improvements in how its services are perceived in general, making it easier to collaborate around other IT projects in future.”
In recognition of the success of the Freshservice implementation, the IT Solutions team at Western Sussex was awarded an international award for Best Implementation of an IT Service Management Solution by the Service Desk Institute.
About Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust serves a population of 450,000 people across a catchment area covering most of West Sussex. The Trust runs three hospitals: St. Richard’s Hospital in Chichester, Southlands Hospital in Shoreham-by-Sea, and Worthing Hospital in the center of Worthing.
Western Sussex became an NHS Foundation Trust on 1 July 2013, just over four years after the organisation was created by a merger of the Royal West Sussex and Worthing, and Southlands Hospitals NHS trusts.
http://www.westernsussexhospitals.nhs.uk
About Freshservice
Freshservice is a cloud-based IT service desk and IT service management (ITSM) solution that is quick to set up and easy to use and manage across the organisation.
Freshservice is built on the proven Freshdesk platform, whose flagship customer service offering supports more than 80,000 customers worldwide, including Honda, 3M, Macmillan, Bridgestone, and UNICEF.
https://freshservice.com/
About Freshdesk
Freshdesk is a cloud-based customer support platform that was founded with the mission of enabling companies of all sizes to provide great customer service. The company’s goal is simple: make it easy for brands to talk to their customers and make it easy for users to get in touch with businesses.
https://freshdesk.com
Contact
Mark Kember
onebite for Freshdesk
+44(0)1635 887676
freshdesk(at)onebite.co.uk