Special guest Olympic Gold medallist Luke Campbell MBE, local dignitaries, members of the business community, NHS commissioners and Healthshare senior management cut the ribbon on Thursday 10th November to officially open the Referral Management Centre (RMC) in Hull.
The RMC is Healthshare’s national call centre, handling 20,000 NHS referrals per month across clinical and diagnostic services. The RMC call centre enables Healthshare to support the NHS through contracts across the UK, including the Hull musculoskeletal service.
Attendees included staff from the RMC and senior figures from Healthshare Group, Lord Mayor, Luke Campbell, and members of the local business and healthcare communities in Hull. Alongside Luke Campbell, speakers also included Neil Cook, Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Healthshare Group, Joy Dodson, Deputy Chief Finance Officer of NHS Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board (ICB), and Lord Mayor, Councillor Christine Randall.
60 employees currently work at the RMC, and through ambitious growth plans and investment in the city of Hull, a further 200 local job opportunities will be created. Healthshare have developed links with local apprenticeship schemes, Hull College, Hull University and Hull Council and is working closely with the job centres and Hull college to support the Sector-Based Work Academy Programme in which the business offers candidates a guaranteed job interview.
The RMC is located in the K3 Business Park, which has recently undergone an exciting new refurbishment. The building offers fantastic facilities for staff, including an onsite creche, café, gym and garden areas. The creche offers childcare all day while parents are at work.
“This [The RMC] is the front line of the future of accessible Healthcare, built around the patient. We have been supported by Hull and it’s really nice to put some of that [investment] back in. This is an incredibly proud moment for all of us.”
Neil Cook, COO at Healthshare Group
“As a partnership [with Healthshare] we’ve seen huge success for our patients in terms of interventions and patient pathways…How wonderful [it is] that this has been established in Hull.”
Joyce Dodson, representing the NHS ICB
Luke Campbell spoke with enthusiasm about the RMC: “As a professional athlete, I know the heartache of being able to access great healthcare…I want to thank all of you for taking part of this and changing people’s lives.”
Lord Mayor, Councillor Christine Randall, spoke of the benefits the RMC brings to the local area: “To know that now, in Hull, we have a leading, forward-edged organisation which is taking frustration away from patients with a smooth service, single point of access, [giving patients] the service they want when they need it is absolutely fantastic. You’re also bringing further job opportunities to the city…which is to be commended… Long may this partnership continue to develop. Because that’s what we need in this city – true, active, working partnership to improve quality of life for everyone here.”
