The challenge
A leading NHS Trust faced significant challenges in managing payments across its departments. Payments for patient services, employee charges, and training courses relied on manual processes, including in-person visits, phone payments, and invoicing.
This led to:
- Long processing times and unnecessary delays
- Increased administrative workload for finance and operational teams
- Poor patient and staff experience due to inefficiencies
- Complications in managing payments for hybrid working and flexible services
The onset of COVID-19 further highlighted the need for a digital, contactless payment solution to mitigate risk and enhance accessibility.
The solution
To modernise their payment processes, the Trust introduced Access PaySuite, an integrated payment platform that allowed for online, contactless, and automated transactions. The implementation began with online patient payments and gradually expanded to include employee charges, training course fees, and other departmental income streams.
The introduction of online payments reduced the need for patients to visit the hospital to make payments. This was particularly beneficial for:
- Audiology services, where patients previously struggled with phone payments
- Fertility services, which transitioned to upfront payments, eliminating the need for post-treatment invoicing
- The travel clinic, where payments were made online before treatment, reducing administrative steps and unnecessary delays
The impact
Improving employee payment flexibility
A significant and unexpected success of the system was the ability for staff to pay for workplace-related costs online. This included:
- DBS checks
- Staff ID badges
- Car parking (including flexible payments for part-time and hybrid workers)
- Locker fees
- Social club memberships
By enabling online payments, staff were no longer restricted by the finance office's hours and could make payments at their convenience.
Reducing the burden of invoicing
Previously, many low-value payments (e.g., course fees, patient charges) required invoicing, leading to:
- Increased debt recovery efforts
- Additional administrative processing
- Delays in receiving income
By shifting payments online, the Trust significantly reduced invoice volumes, aiming to eliminate invoicing for transactions under £100. This not only saved time but also improved cash flow.
Enhancing efficiency and autonomy across departments
Prior to Access PaySuite, departments often had to transfer patients or staff to finance teams to process payments. The new system enabled departments to take payments directly, improving efficiency and providing a seamless, one-touch service.
Key benefits included:
- A better patient and staff experience: fewer call transfers and reduced waiting times
- Greater autonomy for departments: reducing reliance on finance teams
- Faster access to income: payments were processed instantly and allocated to the correct departments the next day
Automating and simplifying payment management
With the introduction of automated payment integration, the Trust improved financial management by:
- Eliminating the need for manual processing of non-debtor payments
- Allowing instant notification of payments to relevant departments
- Automating VAT returns and financial reporting
- Introducing scheduled payments for regular charges (e.g., fertility storage fees, travel passes)
The recurring payments feature also helped to reduce unpaid debts by spreading costs over manageable instalments, reducing the need for retrospective debt collection.
The measurable impact
- 991 hours saved per year – the equivalent of 142 working days
- Over 11,400 payments processed digitally, reducing manual workload
- 500 payments processed per month, saving an average of 10 minutes per transaction
- Fertility services eliminated invoice backlogs, moving entirely to upfront payments
- Departments gained autonomy, reducing unnecessary call transfers and administrative overhead
- Finance teams no longer required to manually process non-debtor payments, freeing up resources for other priorities
A modern payment system for a more efficient NHS
Access PaySuite has transformed the Trust’s approach to income management. By introducing online payments, automating processes, and reducing the need for invoicing, the organisation has achieved significant efficiency gains, improved financial management, and enhanced patient and staff experience.
With continued expansion of the system, the Trust remains committed to streamlining payments further, ensuring financial processes support, not hinder, its ability to deliver high-quality care and services.
Discover how Access PaySuite can help your organisation.