NRAS & Sciensus meeting Jan 2023

Dear All,

Before I start for those who do not know me, I am Tim Chaplin Head of Service at NRAS.

I thought I would post an update about Sciensus and a meeting NRAS had with them last week.

This was my first meeting with Sciensus since joining NRAS and we discussed a number of topics and issues including those which have been highlighted by the community on HealthUnlocked.

We have also agreed to meet Sciensus on a quarterly basis, and I am also visiting their operation in February.

After the meeting Sciensus sent me this statement to share with you.

‘’As discussed, we have faced some operational challenges, mainly around prescription reminder reporting, workforce i.e. an acute shortage of Pharmacists, cost of living/wage inflation and scanning technology. This led to a build-up of issues which slowed services down and as a result we issued two formal notifications of disruption on 25th May and 6th July to the CQC. Swift action was taken, and several remedial actions were put in place. However, these challenges did result in a backlog of prescriptions and a subsequent increase in inbound calls, and therefore an associated drop in call handling times. We have been and continue to engage regularly with the regulators (CQC & GPhC) and the National Homecare Medicines Committee, as well as local hospitals to keep them updated.

We are pleased to say that we have now seen a significant improvement in performance, which will be further supported by our ongoing program of service improvements.

A few things we have done recently include:

• Increasing capacity, providing additional training, and condensing our Customer Service Team operating hours to make sure we have more agents responding to incoming calls

• Adding the Virtual Patient Agent and improving the Contact Us form on our website - patients can view, arrange, confirm, or reschedule their delivery, amend, or cancel their order, plus other request options via these channels

• Continuing to develop our Sciensus InTouch App, which is now being used by over 80,000 patients to self-serve. More features will be going live in the next few months.

I am also pleased to confirm that I have now been appointed full time to focus on patient experience and advocacy. This will help to drive patient experience improvements, shape how we gather and use patient insight and build an ongoing, open dialogue with advocacy groups.’’

I will keep you updated on my visit to Sciensus and our future meetings

Kind Regards

Tim

[KittyJ]

This all sounds good Tim. Any chance you will be tackling the problems with the Benepali packaging since they changed it please? I have had some private messages with Sarah W at NRAS in the past about it but nothing has changed. Thank you 😊

[Hidden in reply to KittyJ]

Dear Kitty

Thank you for your reply, may I ask if you have contacted Sciensus directly on this issue?

KR

TC

[KittyJ in reply to Hidden]

it’s not Sciensus that supplies or makes it. I have contacted the manufacturer and so has Sarah since then.

[Gnarli]

Welcome to the forum. It's good to know that we have an NRAS advocate for those of us forced to use the dubious 'service' offered by Sciensus. Before their name change from Healthcare at Home,their reputation for poor service was so dire that those cynics amongst us suspected the name change was an effort to shake off their past history and start with a clean slate. There is a well-documented history of terrible service from these people, whatever they choose to call themselves.

[Hidden in reply to Gnarli]

Thank you for your reply Gnarli,

I know Sciensus has a patient advocacy board which is open to people to apply to join. This can be done either through the app or contacting them direct. This may help resolve some of the issues if patients applied to be on this board?

[Knit12]

I have to say that the issue with Sciensus seems to depend on which area you live. I live in the NE Scotland and have had excellent service from them including drivers and administration staff and have never had any problems from them while under Healthcare at Home or Sciensus

[Mmrr in reply to Knit12]

In fear of tempting fate...I've had a good , reliable service from them too. I live in Edinburgh.

[humorous]

I have had no problems with Sciencus using them from March 2021 to May 2022. I was switched to Tocilizumab In November 2022 to be provided by Lloyds Pharmacy Clinical Healthcare and have had problems with their service. Their Clinical Quality Care rating is inadequate and I did give my feedback to the CQC as they are reviewing this firm again.

[medway-lady]

Good news and I hope my correspondence with them helped too. So many excuses and at last the company is under scrutiny. I sincerely hope it does improve, because it needs too.

[Jacey15]

I've had no end of trouble with Sciensus and they are getting worse, not better. I was left with no medication. I've made a formal complaint for the catalogue of errors. I've complained to NHS England and my CCG but neither of them were interested. This week I've complained to my MP who is taking it up the department of health. I've really had enough of Sciensus and wish I could get my medication another way

[Hidden in reply to Jacey15]

This is an ongoing issue and working with a number of organisations we are calling for action still so need to gather case studies. Would you be willing to share your experiences of homecare service or has your issues now been resolved? If you are interested in being a case study please email me directly on [e-mail]. Thank you

[snotts]

Thank you for having this meeting and sharing this update Tim!