Manchester help line team are runners up in national healthcare award

Company news

Nov 16, 2012

A help line team that processes GP referrals and manages patient’s appointments and treatment plans at Greater Manchester NHS Clinical Assessment & Treatment Service (CATS) has been named as runners-up in a prestigious award for its outstanding contribution to improving patients’ healthcare.

The Greater Manchester NHS CATS Patient Management Team, based in 111 Piccadilly, Manchester was amongst the innovators recognised at the national Health Care Awards for finding new ways to improve services and standards for Care UK patients.

The competition, that judges say was the toughest they had seen, was open to Care UK’s 2,900 team members who provide expert care and services to patients at GP practices, diagnostics services, special treatment centres, out-of-hours services and prisons across the country.

Judges heard that the team, which operates across 10 different PCTs and processes in excess of 1,500 referrals per week of consultant-led appointments in five key specialties, works tirelessly to ensure that patients who call the help line receive excellent service and advice in a friendly and understanding manner.

Team Manager Kayleigh Down said: “We regularly monitor our patients’ views to ensure we are maintaining our high standards. My favourite comment recently was when a patient said: ‘They’re really nice, I like this number. I wish if I ever had any problems I could just ring this place right up so they could sort it out. They’re polite to you on the phones and the doctors are nice as well.’”

The team are not only dedicated to taking care of their own callers but they are also committed to supporting charities. This year they have raised more than £1,000 for Cancer Research through a series of fundraising events.

Kayleigh added: “We were delighted to have been recognised by the judges for our contribution to patient wellbeing and service and we will keep on trying to provide that level of excellence every day for the communities we serve.”

To find out more about Greater Manchester NHS CATS visit www.greater-manchester-cats.com.