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Patients receive better quality of service from Bupa
31 March 2003
Phonecalls are being handled with increased confidence by Bupa Hospitals staff after 46 people completed a course to improve customer service. Chief executive Val Gooding will be presenting the certificates for the Call Handling Operation National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) to the successful candidates at Exchange Quay, Salford, on 1st April 2003.
The 16-week course was the largest of its kind undertaken by customer service, account administration and accounts payable teams in the finance and support services centre. Tutors from HAYS Skills Development and St Helen’s College listened to how people dealt with calls to and from patients, hospitals and insurance companies and helped identify areas for improvement.
Customer service adviser Adrian Thomas, who gained an NVQ level three said: "It’s given me more confidence and helped to give us a better understanding of the reasons behind what we do for the customer. We developed a number of valuable techniques for improving the quality of information we gathered from patients enabling us to answer their queries quicker and in a more accurate way."
Other NVQ courses will be offered as part of the department’s commitment to achieving the Investors in People standard - a national quality mark that recognises a business’s efforts to train and develop staff. New staff will have the opportunity to take courses when they join.
Adrian added: "It’s boosted morale here because we feel that the management team is investing time in us and is interested developing our careers."
Customer service manager Heather Cavanagh said: "The NVQ programme has created quite a buzz in the department. The course has really helped the team to focus on the importance of their role and the difference it can make to patients at what can be a very stressful time in their lives. We have already had lots of positive feedback from patients who feel that we have handled their queries well."
Of the 46 candidates on the programme, 42 people undertook Call Handling Operations level two and three, and four candidates gained a supervisory level four NVQ. The centre handles 200,000 calls a year and currently employees 62 call handlers.
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