Our team of strategic communications experts and delivery specialists was engaged to support the NHS England North East and Yorkshire (NEY) region implement a new Eye Care Electronic Referral System at NHS trusts and optometry practices across the region.
Working closely with the strategic lead and ophthalmology leads – over a five month period – we developed key messages, produced a suite of impactful communication tools and created a dedicated FutureNHS workspace for the programme.
This strategic and tactical support has helped to raise awareness of the new system among key stakeholders, providing the programme with key tools to communicate effectively with optometry and ophthalmology staff.
The challenge
The NHS England NEY region sought communications and engagement support for the implementation of a new Eye Care Electronic Referral System (EeRS) at NHS trusts and optometry practices across the region.
The EeRS solution is a key digital enabler for the transformation of eye care services. It connects optometrists with providers of NHS specialist and hospital eyecare services, allowing image sharing and two-way communication and enabling system-wide improvements in eye care services so that patients receive care in the right place at the right time.
Our approach
Our team of strategic communications experts and delivery specialists provided a package of support to achieve the customer’s objectives of raising awareness of EeRS among stakeholders and informing stakeholders about how the changes affect them, the benefits of the system, and what they needed to do and when.
Working closely with their strategic lead, we reviewed the existing communications plan, providing expert advice to ensure the programme reached the right people at the right time via the right channels.
We worked alongside ophthalmology leads to develop key messages explaining the new way of working and its benefits for relevant target audiences. With input from a local trust implementing the system, we produced a suite of impactful communications tools to help trusts communicate the new system and its benefits to staff.
The tools included:
- leaflets optimised for both print and digital
- a slide deck for stakeholders
- a template newsletter to share programme updates with stakeholders
- a detailed frequently asked questions (FAQs) document to support additional internal communications and to assist in responding to queries.
A striking icon and colour scheme were also created by our graphic design team. This brought all the materials together under a consistent and recognisable visual identity.
To make these tools as dynamic and accessible as possible, we created the design and content for a dedicated EeRS FutureNHS online workspace, ensuring that information is easily available to both NHS and optometry staff.
The outcomes
Within a short five month timeframe, we delivered both strategic advice and tactical communication resources to support NHSE’s NEY regional team. Our work has been well received by the NEY team, and our support has helped them to free up essential resource to focus on operational delivery of the EeRS roll-out.
The comprehensive communications toolkit has provided the three trusts currently involved in this programme with essential tools to communicate effectively with staff about the new system, how the change will affect them and the benefits for both ophthalmology teams and patients.
The creation of a FutureNHS online workspace has provided the programme with a central hub, with leaflets, frequently asked questions, and other resources for optometrists and ophthalmologists.
"The Arden & GEM team has developed communications materials for us to support implementation of an eye care electronic referral system across the region.
I have found them reliable, friendly and focussed on delivering a package that meets our requirements. They have been flexible where plans have unexpectantly changed. The outputs were of high quality and delivered on time."
Katie Wyart, Programme Manager for NHS England North East and Yorkshire region