Fury over 'cheapskate' NHS plan for Indian call centre

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~~~~~~ its bad enough calling vm about something


An NHS efficiency drive may result in hospital appointments being outsourced to call
centres in India.

In a move that has been labelled cheapskate by furious critics, a senior Health Service official has suggested saving money by sending swathes of administration work to Delhi, Bombay and other cities.

But the prospect of having to ring a call centre in India to book an NHS appointment was pounced upon by critics.

Bad call: Critics say patients will be the losers if an NHS call centre is set up in India.

They said the plan could put peoples confidential medical records in danger, and could lead to misdiagnoses because Indian call centre staff are unlikely to know how the NHS works.

The proposal comes despite a scandal two years ago when the confidential medical records of patients at one of Londons top private hospitals were sold on by Indian IT staff.

This weekend a report revealed that the Health Service could save ?1billion a year if it cut out waste which sees some trusts paying far more for the same equipment than other trusts.

The study, by NHS Shared Business Services, which attempts to drive efficiency across the service, found shocking examples of waste including eight NHS trusts paying 19 different prices for the same pacemaker squandering ?750 a time.

Managing director John Neilson said the NHS could save hundreds of millions by getting better value for money.

But it is his idea of outsourcing NHS administration to India that has proved the most controversial.

Helen Wilkinson, of the Big Opt Out, which urges people to opt out of a national NHS database, said: We would have huge concerns about this.

If medical records are to be stored outside of the UK, you would have less control over your data.

And Geoff Martin, of pressure group Health Emergency, described it as a cheapskate option.

The last thing you want when you have a serious illness is to have to ring a call centre halfway round the world, he said.
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Fury over 'cheapskate' NHS plan for Indian call centre | Mail Online

[Grizz]

John Neilson
He said Indian workers were so good that the only hurdle to such a plan would be British patients' unwillingness to book appointments with foreign operators.

hes obviously never had to call one

[badapple]

From a business point of view, it makes sense.

Get rid of the COWBOYS and bring in the INDIANS

[Grizz]

Aha, its all coming clear now John Nielson Chief of the NHS Shared Business Services.

[super jumbe]

It is getting diabolical, because most companies have opened the call centre in India in order to save money and I can not understand how much money we are going to save, and what about the public confidentiality of our medical records because once it gets into wrong hands like in the hands of alkaida then we will be in a real trouble, just imagine the customer service workers in India are as young as 20 years old and they have got all our information now from how much money we have in the bank, including our addressees and I totally disagree with the government on this issue.

[cablefreejunkie]

It because once it gets into wrong hands like in the hands of alkaida

is this a stomach settling sachet drink ?

[Canker_Canison]

They don't need an Indian call centre to save money. Just get rid of all those managers & private contracts for supplies.

Let the NHS pay the correct price for their drugs & equipment, allow them to look for the most competitive prices & cut back on the multiple layers of decision makers.

[Wolfpack]

Health care costs are out of control in the USA that some people go to India to have operations cause they are cheaper. Why can't country's train the people who collect welfare for a living to work at a call center you are already paying them wouldn't that save money

[cablefreejunkie]

theres lots of reasons why large corps use countrys like india for call centres,,
i have been to india many times in the last 15 or so years,it has changed beyond recognition,there is a massive amount of graduates that are trained to the highest standards,,and when they get the opportunity to work for vm or three or maybe the nhs that job to an indian is something that makes them very proud to be associated with a big company,,there work ethic is second to none,,now dont get me wrong here,im not saying were not capable of doing the same here,another reason is running costs,it works out far cheaper to run a call centre in asia than in the uk
i saw a documentary a while back where they took an indian call centre worker and swapped them with an english call centre worker,,both working for the same company,,indian was male brit was female,they spent 2 weeks in each others respective country,,the female was pished off big time,firstly she had to be up all night as they need to be available when its daytime in the uk,and secondly there was no messing around in the office and having the crack with your colleague next door,,it was strictly business,,,the indian on the other hand was suprised and a little worried,,he could not believe what was going on in the uk call centre,,,people going out for a fag,,not answering calls,,basically having a jolly at work,,,i dont see the problem,,,but obviously if you are a manager in a call centre and you need the highest possible standards where would you take your business ?? i have spoke many times with indian call centre staff and they are very precise and professional,,you might have to listen more carefully but all in all ive had good experiences,,,ive also had very good experiences with english call centre staff and absolutely terrible experiences,,,car insurance springs to mind but im not going to bore you with that one
i think people all to easily blame there bad experience on the fact that its somebody from asia thats caused it,,if it was in england it would be another excuse,,,not too sure where i stand on the NHS outsourceing,,i think medical records etc is a step too far,,,,cut the managers and private contracts and extortionate pharmaceutical costs and save a fortune

[popi110]

I have had nightmares with aviva and hsbc its not what the public want its a farce ii have a asian call centre answering machine voice and any witheld or 08 numbers got to that that way I do not have to have an argument with some guy from mumbi who is allways called john smith and has the accent of steven hawkins

[tshirtman]

you also have african call centers now,
how many people will trust doing business with these
all I could think of is this man