NHS shared services centre will boost customer confidence

A county-wide IT service is improving communications across hundreds of sites

New business management system frees up time for helpdesk staff

Derbyshire Health Informatics Service (DHIS), a shared IT service covering eight primary care trusts, is implementing a business management system that will help improve communication with the organisation's 24-hour helpdesk.

Due to go live in mid-July, the Touchpaper system will support 16,400 users across 495 sites in Derbyshire.

By giving helpdesk staff more information, the system helps to diagnose problems earlier, said Daryl Barber, customer service manager at DHIS.

"From the initial screen, technicans have more of an insight into the situation they're dealing with. And it helps automate simple, mundane processes like password resets, releasing staff to deal with more complex issues," he said.

DHIS has existed as a shared service for five years and last month chose Touchpaper over five other suppliers, based on its experience in the sector and ability to provide ongoing support after implementation.

"We work well ahead of many public sector organisations and we needed a toolset to support this, as the National Programme for IT drives forward a higher standard," said Barber.

"Quite often in the public sector, we choose systems based on what we can afford, not necessarily what we want. Don't sell yourself short."