We saved this NHS Trust the hassle of managing multiple taxi operators across multiple sites, while increasing their income and providing a better service for visitors.
With four main hospitals serving North Manchester, Bury, Rochdale and Oldham, Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust treats well over 1 million patients per year. Many more friends, family and visitors pass through its doors annually and taxis play a vital role in getting people to and from the hospitals.
Before working with Infopoint’sTaxi Management Services, the Trust had their own contracts in place with several local taxi firms, who provided taxi free phones for visitors to use and carried out account work for hospital staff.
“We’re a Trust with four different hospitals, so we weren’t just dealing with one contractor, we were dealing with several,” explains Steven Moss, the Facilities Services Manager. “Every 3-5 years there was quite a hefty amount of work involved in getting companies to tender and trying to get the best prices – it can take 3-6 months to go through a tendering exercise.”
Add to this the time spent handling complaints and chasing invoices to multiple contractors, and it’s easy to see why the Trust were interested when Infopoint suggested there might be an easier way.
Our solution
By taking on the management of taxi requirements for the entire Trust, Infopoint became their sole contractor. This meant Infopoint could handle the entire process of tendering and negotiation for each of the sites without having to involve the Trust in a lengthy procurement process every time. More importantly, Infopoint could act as a buffer between the Trust and all issues arising from taxi operator performance.
“We’ve got a better phone system, patients have got better access to services and we’re better off – it’s a win-win for everyone.” Steven Moss, Facilities Services Manager, Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust
“In the past, there was sometimes friction between two different taxi firms,” explains Steven Moss. “We also had people complaining to us about the free phone taxi services when really we were only interested in the contracted taxi service. But by having a contract directly with the taxi firm, we became responsible for the service that was provided. Now Infopoint deal with any issues that come up without us having to get involved.”
Infopoint also took on the job of invoicing and chasing payment from the contracted taxi firms, paying the Trust directly and in advance while also managing to negotiate an increase in revenue.
Throughout the hospitals, the existing low-quality taxi free phones were replaced with high-quality, highly visible Infopoint units, providing not only taxi services but also access to a number of other useful help and advice lines, from travel information to NHS 111.
The result
“I have to say, the Infopoint phones are far better than our old taxi free phones. They provide additional services that weren’t available before and the fact that they’re displayed so prominently helps patients and visitors to find them,” says Stephen Moss.
“We’ve got a better phone system, patients have got better access to taxis and other services, and we’re slightly better off than we were before – so it seems like it’s a win-win for everyone.”
To find out more, call TMS on: 01223 622126
