CCGs - Choose Well

There is no doubting NHS Nottingham City CCG is on a roll recently with a national award under its belt and now in the running for two more UK wide honours. Named as Clinical Commissioning Team of the Year back in May they, along with some other NHS pioneers, are leading the way in the countdown to April.

Structuring their marketing strategy and individual targeted campaigns it seems their first goal is to tackle the city’s increasing number of unnecessary A&E admissions. With a planned campaign to inform patients to choose better when it comes to seeking medical advice it hopes to encourage those suffering minor injuries and illnesses to use some of the more appropriate and convenient services available.Raising awareness of local walk-in-centres, GP surgeries and pharmacies that can help treat minor cuts, stomach pains and painful coughs the campaign aims to cut-down A&E waiting times and save vital NHS funds.

eskimosoup has delivered more than 50 campaigns and projects for the NHS including some of the highest performing “choose well” communication campaigns.

Working with NHS Wakefield and NHS Nottinghamshire County PCTs our team designed and directed promotions tailored to each locality and target groups in that area. Strategies included using a street team to offer advice, direct mailing, advertising and using interactive games. Both projects were successful with a 67% campaign recall amongst our core target audience.

Another recent achievement to tackle this problem is our highly successful Your GP will see you now Wakefield CCG campaign. Raising awareness of local GP surgeries along with opening times and the services they can provide has directly helped to cut down unnecessary A&E admissions. Leaflets, posters and predominant use of social media gave patients advice on what minor ailments can be treated by GPs including minor burns and vomiting.

With treatment in A&E costing much more than providing the same care elsewhere and unnecessary admissions using up valuable resources our BIG ideas team are continually thinking up new and innovative ways to help eradicate the problem for UK wide CCGs.

So, as people are encouraged to choose well when it comes to the types of health services they use, so too are CCGs when it comes to deciding what campaign best targets their patients.

CCGs race to get online

In this increasingly digital world it seems everything can change at the click of a button. We can shop, socialise, learn and even talk to our favourite celebrity online so why is it that many are still not able to book an appointment with their doctor via the web?

The commercial sector has sat up and taken notice of the self-service generation that we have become and whilst some parts of the NHS are pioneers its clear that some parts need to follow suit. As CCGs, the “more patient lead health service”, come into being it is essential that the websites are built around patients’ needs and give people the opportunity to interact with their NHS.

The good news is that this is something that patients have been promised they will be able to do by 2015. The Department of Health have also set a target of being able to access medical records, order repeat prescriptions and use email enquiries by this date too.

So what does this mean for CCG boards nationwide?

One thing we know is that it is not just about sticking an online booking system onto an already confusing and patient un-friendly website. Yes, it does need to be informative but it also has to be visually appealing and easy to use for both the public as well as NHS staff who will be regularly updating the pages.

Here, at eskimosoup, we understand the problems that many businesses face who don’t have whizzy IT guys behind the scenes fixing problems and comms people adding regular posts. We realise that not everyone who uses web facilities have a degree in IT or web design. This is why we have taken ten years designing our very own software to make it as easy and efficient for those using it. This in turn means a much simpler experience for customers.

An example of our consumer friendly websites includes the healthy lifestyle Leeds Let’s Change website which uses vibrant and straightforward navigation tabs as well as integrating the regularly updated Twitter feed so people can easily keep up to date with changes. The site, which is fully operational by NHS Leeds staff, allows them to easily update events, news stories or create different links.

We are also currently working with a number of CCGs nationwide to help develop their websites to become fully functional and easily adaptable to handle these new Department of Health changes.

Then of course, there’s the increase of mobile web, convergence with social media, increased video content and a whole host of other factors that the most pioneering CCGs can apply to be truly ahead of the game.