Anglia Support Partnership (ASP), IT services provider for five NHS organisations in the East of England, has selected Hornbill's Supportworks ITSM to manage and improve service performance for over 10,000 employees at 200 locations. The Partnership provides IT support services to staff in its seven partner organisations - NHS Cambridgeshire, Cambridgeshire Community Services, NHS Norfolk, Norfolk Community Health & Care, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, NHS Peterborough, Peterborough Community Services, as well as the Strategic Health Authority - NHS East of England. ASP chose Supportworks ITSM, which replaced the original FrontRange solution, for its functionality and ease of use, as well as Hornbill's proven track record of working with NHS organisations. ASP claims that its adoption of Supportworks ITSM will enable it to achieve National Service Desk accreditation.

According to Roger Abbotson, Service Manager at Anglia Support Partnership: "We needed a flexible system that would grow with us and develop alongside our service support strategy. Following a rigorous evaluation against our requirements, Hornbill's software matched our criteria perfectly. Hornbill also demonstrated a strong understanding of the NHS sector and an innovative approach to development. All the functionality we required was available from day one, but with the flexibility to introduce new elements to suit us in the future. We have already seen an improvement in incident and service management, helping us to meet our SLAs with our partner organisations, due to the improved quality of the information being captured. This has resulted in a number of positive comments on the improved communications from some of our end users. The management reports provide us with a more detailed understanding of how we respond to issues, develop staff and improve our service to customers. Adopting ITIL through using Supportworks ITSM also plays a key role in our achieving National Service Desk accreditation."

The IT team went live with Supportworks ITSM in mid April, and is using the system to log and track all user requests for IT and telephony services. Management reports provide statistics on how the team is meeting agreed Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) in its Service Level Agreements (SLAs). The organisation also plans to log all calls for estates and facilities through the service desk, and incorporate an HR service in the future to handle enquiries on payroll and employee benefits. Details logged by the service desk will be captured on Supportworks ITSM, linked directly to the estates and facilities database, with improved service efficiencies as a result.

The IT team plans to adopt ITIL best practice using Hornbill's solution for change and problem management, including the creation of a Configuration Management Database (CMDB). The team is also investigating using Supportworks ITSM to manage the Registration Authority, the body responsible for verifying the identity of healthcare professionals and workers who wish to register to access patient information within NHS Care Records, and the associated smartcards.

Gerry Sweeney, CEO of Hornbill Systems commented: "ASP is meeting the challenges that face a successful IT service provider to the NHS by ensuring that it has the right systems in place to manage and improve service performance to its customers. Adopting best practice and having measurements in place to manage its service levels enable the IT team to maximise efficiencies and ensure customer expectations are met. Implementing ITIL processes using Supportworks ITSM also provides ASP with an excellent foundation towards achieving National Service Desk Accreditation."

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NOTES TO EDITORS

About Anglia Support Partnership
Anglia Support Partnership is a business arm of the NHS and is hosted by the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust. ASP is a non-statutory organisation.

It is the provider of choice for a number of NHS organisations in the East of England and is extending its reach both geographically and to non-NHS organisations around the UK. It is 'owned' by seven NHS Partners who are stakeholders in ASP.

They are:
• NHS Cambridgeshire
• Cambridgeshire Community Services
• Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust
• NHS Peterborough
• Peterborough Community Services
• NHS Norfolk
• Norfolk Community Health & Care

Between them, these organisations employ more than 10,000 people. For more information, please visit: www.asp.nhs.uk