ESPO (Eastern Shires Purchasing Organization) is a joint Committee of Local Authorities and operates within the Local Government (Goods & Services) Act 1970. It acts as a purchasing agent for its member authorities and other customers and provides a professional cost effective procurement and supply service can eliminate the need for organizations to go through a protracted OJEU  .

HSIM has recently been awarded a framework contract (390) under the ESPO umbrella for document scanning.  This assures organizations that the suppliers they are approaching for quotations have been approved as suitable for providing high quality secure scanning services. 

For more information regarding the ESPO supply route to purchasing scanning services contact us:

info.man@hughsymons.com or contact ESPO direct: http://www.espo.org/

Hugh Symons News Roundup - December 2010

2010 has brought with it challenges for all types of organizations, whether the NHS, Local Authorities, other public sector bodies or commercial concerns.  At Hugh Symons, we have continued to assess the service level we provide, the way in which we operate, and the changing needs of our clients, in order to remain viable.

With these factors in mind we are pleased to report that during 2010 we have notable successes in a variety of areas within our business:

• Accreditation to ISO 27001 was gained in June
• ISO 14001 accreditation also gained in May
• We were awarded our largest NHS scanning contract to date with over 250,000 medical records files to be scanned by Spring 2011. The project is well underway and on target for completion within the timeframe.
• We were also awarded one of our largest Local Authority contract for the scanning of  over 150,000 Planning and Building Control files for Cheshire West and Chester Council
• We have provided scanning services to over 300 individual clients in 2010 assisting them to streamline their business practices
• We have increased our staffing levels by over 15% during the course of the year to meet production demands.

Hugh Symons has recently been awarded a contract to scan over 100,000 Planning & Building Control files for Cheshire West & Chester Council.  The Council was formed in 2009 with the amalgamation of the western portion of Cheshire County Council and three former boroughs. 

Cheshire West and Chester Council has embraced the policy drive to “Transformation Government", and as a result has realised over £30m in cashable efficiencies in its 2009/2010 budget.

As part of this policy drive the Council has awarded Hugh Symons the contract to scan over 100,000 development files. . The initial project will be completed within a six month time-frame with all images being uploaded to the Council’s Civica EDM system by December 2010.  In the meantime, the Council are using Hugh Symons’ CDView licence free software to validate images and access information.

Further projects are planned for other areas including Waste and Minerals, Regulatory Services and Historic Environment departments with some additional conversion projects of legacy data for upload to the EDM system.

For more information on this specific project or file conversion in general, contact us:

info.man@hughsymons.com

Hugh Symons Gains ISO 14001 Environmental Accreditation

The ISO 14000 is a standard for environmental management systems that is applicable to any business. The aim of the standard is to reduce the environmental footprint of a business and to decrease the pollution and waste a business produces.

Hugh Symons has been committed to these principles for many years and has been awarded accreditation to the standard.

Chris Booth Managing Director comments on the award:

"Over a period of time we have reviewed very carefully the way in which our company operates with regard to its impact on the environment. We have had the backing of all our employees with a view to this goal. It is down to them, collectively and individually that we have realigned certain areas of the business to be successful in achieving this internationally recognized accreditation."

London Marathon Update

Hugh Symons’ MD, Chris Booth, recently ran the London Marathon in aid of the Great Ormond Street Hospital charity and successfully completed the race in a very respectable 3 hours and 44 minutes.  Chris commented on his performance:

“On a personal level I was just pleased to finish the course having had less than ideal preparation in the final weeks leading up to the race, but I am also delighted that such a worthy cause will benefit as a result”

Chris Booth, Managing Director of Hugh Symons Information Management has been lucky enough to have obtained a place to run the London Marathon on 25th April. 

Chris has worked with Great Ormond Street Hospital on a business basis for several years and has been greatly impressed by the work that the dedicated professionals there do to assist the many thousands of children and their families in times of illness. It is for this reason that Chris has decided to run the London Marathon in aid of the Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity (registration number 235825). If you would like to sponsor Chris in the run (which he hopes to complete in under 3.5 hours), please contact chris.booth@hughsymons.com

If you would like further information on the Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity click here:

http://www.gosh.org/

Hugh Symons Wins Luton Borough Council Contract

In the Autumn of 2009 Luton BC issued a tender for the scanning of their Development Control and Building Control records. Luton BC had historically microfilmed their files and it was the microfilm conversion that formed the majority of the scanning contract.

HSIM has recently been awarded the contract to scan patient notes for  a number of GP Practices within Hastings and Rother PCT.

The PCT is currently developing the new Primary Care Centre at Station Plaza in Hastings, which will house 5 GP practices as well as other healthcare facilities.  The new premises are due for completion by the Spring of 2010 and it is proposed that all patient notes will be scanned prior to this to facilitate a paperless environment.

For more information on scanning of GP and PCT files contact us: info.man@hughsymons.com

Cardiff & Vale NHS Trust Award Scanning Contract

Following an extensive tendering process Cardiff & Vale NHS Trust awarded a 2 year contract for the scanning of medical records to Hugh Symons NHS Document Scanning Services. Medical Records will be boxed and collected for scanning on a weekly basis from 3 hospital sites, with approximately 100,000 records being digitised per annum.

All scanned patient files will be managed, retrieved and viewed with Hugh Symons' CDView software, which has been installed at all 3 sites providing access to unlimited authorized medical record staff. This provides the Trust with a cost free electronic management system which is also completely ‘open’ allowing the Trust to migrate all scanned data to ay future electronic patient records system if and when required.

Occupational Health Project for 2Gether NHS Foundation Trust

Hugh Symons NHS Document Scanning Services was awarded the back scanning contract for the Occupational Health department of 2Gether NHS Foundation Trust in February 2009. The project involved the scanning of 50,000 records within a 3 month period to enable the Occupational Health Department redevelop into an open plan office.

All records were scanned in a format for loading directly into the Trust’s OPAS system which now provides Occupational Health staff with faster and more efficient access to vital information when required. Hugh Symons also provided a copy of all returned data in a format for viewing within CDView software as a secure backup to the main system.

Through consultation with the client Hugh Symons was able to advise on a bar coding system to automate index capture thereby significantly reducing overall project costs. This system also allowed the Trust the opportunity to validate and audit all files being prepared for the scanning process.

South London & Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust Allocate More Budget to Scanning

Hugh Symons Information Management (HSIM) has provided document scanning services to the current South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM) since 2005, with the re-award of the contract in Jan 2008 after a second tender was issued.  

As the NHS Mental Health Trust providing the largest portfolio of services in the country, SLaM has aimed to continue to pursue its official rating as “Excellent” in all areas, which includes the secure retention of medical notes. With this goal in mind, SLaM has recently allocated additional budget to be spent on scanning of patient records in the next phase of the conversion project.  Although the bulk of the documents scanned by the Trust are medical notes, other departments have also realised the benefits of HSIM’s secure service and are already scanning their information, with further departments due to commence in 2009.