High street optician Specsavers has recorded a 20% increase in revenues since using System C’s Medway software to publish its audiology services through NHS Choose and Book.

Since going live with System C’s Medway Proxima in May this year, Specsavers has been able to take direct bookings from GPs and patients through the NHS Choose and Book electronic referral service. 

The result has been a 23% increase in numbers of NHS hearing appointments booked, providing a six figure increase in weekly revenue, compared to the same period last year on a like-for-like basis. The company’s GP satisfaction score has risen to an average 80%.

Specsavers has 150 dedicated hearing centres in the UK, and another 586 optical stores which provide hearing care services. As well as providing private services, the company treats NHS customers under the ‘any qualified provider’ model of care. GPs are currently referring around 2,000 NHS patients a week to a Specsavers store for hearing care. Some 60% of Specsavers’ audiology appointments are published through Choose and Book.

Peter Robinson, Head of IT- Hearcare at Specsavers, said the software had been rolled out smoothly and efficiently. “The impact on our business has been transformational,” he said. “We are delighted with both the Proxima product and with System C’s service.”

At Specsavers, Proxima interfaces with the company’s practice management system, Sycle. Mr Robinson said the company was so pleased with this combined IT deployment that it submitted it for this year’s prestigious Retail Systems Awards, where it won the ‘Technology Project of the Year’ category.

Markus Bolton, joint chief executive of System C, commented: “We work hard on quantifying benefits to patients and our clients and it’s always rewarding to see such clear cut and rapid results.”

Medway Proxima is an integrated patient administration and clinical solution built specifically to support care outside of the acute hospital setting. It has been developed for use by elective centres, GP-led centres, integrated care organisations, social enterprises and clinical assessment services.

Other UK users of System C’s Medway Proxima include Care UK and Virgin Healthcare.