With over 28,000 calls having been generated to 9,517 people with loan equipment, the sheer scale of engagement is something that simply cannot be achieved without automation. We played the calls live on the session, to hear the questions that are asked (co-designed with service users), which then drive the return of equipment, as well as identifying people who no longer have the kit, who can’t use it safely or where equipment is broken.

Emma Anderson, Head of Therapies & Deputy Chief Operating Officer at Sunderland City Council/SCAS said:“Community loan equipment is a demand-led service, and we have always needed to manage the budget very carefully. What Contact&Connect has given us is the ability to manage within our budget, had we not introduced this we would have really struggled to continue to meet demand. Since Covid, our business itself changed quite dramatically… we used to work with a seven day target for turnaround and now we work with ‘today’. Having deployed Contact&Connect, we are able to rely on the continual flow of reissue equipment and keep up with demand.”

The return rates, financial and carbon savings are clear, but it was the detail of the business change that really brought value to the session. Colleagues from other councils and loan stores asked about Sunderland’s process redesign, redeployment of staff, rates of recycling, prescribing models, data hygiene and the data checks and balances involved, plus how the calls are generated and costs.