Cancer Focus Northern Ireland

Cancer Focus is a large cancer charity, based in Northern Ireland, who were finding it challenging to co-ordinate their services using spreadsheets, Word documents and Outlook diaries and other applications to manage a whole range of different services. They offer therapeutic services such as counselling, peer support, a Nurseline and family services.

Volunteer Driver Service

A more unusual scheme that we have been honoured to support with AdvicePro customisation, is their volunteer driver service.

They have many volunteer drivers that offer to take patients to and from their homes to hospital appointments, for chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and any other cancer related appointments.

The drivers give their availability for the areas that they’ll cover, the days and times they are available. The advisers, within the driving support team can run a search on AdvicePro and find available drivers that will match a patient’s requirements. For example, a patient will request transport next Friday to the hospital for an appointment at 10:00. They will enter search criteria for the volunteer drivers within AdvicePro and it’ll display a list of available drivers. They will then send a text message then to the topmost available driver, using a template in AdvicePro. That appointment sits automatically as a requested appointment, until the driver confirms. When it’s marked as having a confirmed driver, the patient is notified. Once the patient has confirmed they will accept the driver, it removes that driver from being available on that date and time in future searches.

The search is fast, returning within a few seconds with drivers’ availability. We have also set up a method of recording drivers’ details, information about their vehicles and set up automatic reminders for their MOT, road tax, insurance to be checked on an annual basis.

The way the functionality has been created to work for this team has been described as a “total game changer”.

Stock control – Bra fitting service

Cancer Focus NI offer a bra fitting service to clients that have had surgery. Their AdvicePro system has been customised to record the type of surgery the patient has had, organise their bra fitting appointment, log their requirements for a suitable bra and then check available stock and adjust the stock if the bra is purchased by the patient using our Auto Actions feature.

We’ve also automatically set up a stock reminder so that when the stock gets below a prescribed level, a message is sent to the adviser to notify them that the stock level of that item is low to order more stock.

Event Management

Cancer Focus NI also run healthy lifestyle events as part of the Health Improvement and Keeping Well Services. For example, events about staying safe in the sun, stopping smoking or healthy eating. AdvicePro can record the types of events, the number of attendees, resources that are used and if attendees have been referred on to other services.

It can also log and report on granular detail, such as how many women attended, age groups, people referred after blood pressure or cholesterol checks and who these people are referred on to.

Volunteer Management

Cancer Focus NI has an amazing volunteer service, which they’re now managing securely with AdvicePro. Only the Senior Management team have access to this element. It keeps volunteer records safely and securely with disclosure checks, police checks and references.

Counselling Service Management

There is huge demand for the Cancer Focus NI counselling service so it’s important that people in need have an effective system to manage appointments so they’re seen as quickly as can be.

They use the AdvicePro reporting functionality to monitor waiting lists, attendance, timescales, how quickly from the triage appointment they are seen by a counsellor. They can monitor initial assessments using templates to ensure consistent and accurate note recording. Using our free ‘unassigned user’ accounts and the ability to record different case statuses, ensures that clients are on the correct waiting list and monitored for optimum efficiency in service delivery.

It was vitally important to us that we set up their AdvicePro system just as they needed it. It’s been an interesting, fulfilling and important project and that’s working really well for them. For us, the ultimate aim is that they have a system that can pull all of their services together. Now they are using the amazing reportability functions within AdvicePro, to report on their service as a whole, with consistency and simplified reporting outcomes back to their Board.