Police innovations
to streamline NHS pathways

Delayed discharge remains one of the most expensive pressures in the NHS. More than 13,000 beds are occupied each day by patients who are medically ready to leave, costing the system an estimated £2 billion a year. Much of this delay stems from slow, disconnected communication between hospitals, social care, housing and community teams.

Digital Witness Care demonstrated how communication between officers, courts, and partner agencies reduced duplication and streamlined case processing. The same principle can support faster, safer discharge and release vital NHS capacity.

Missed outpatient appointments remain a major pressure on the NHS. Out of 124.5M outpatient appointments last year, 8M were not attended, costing the NHS about £1.2 billion annually. A significant share of these could be avoided with clearer reminders, timely updates and simple ways for patients to confirm or reschedule. Strengthening communication at key points would help protect clinical time, reduce waste and improve the flow of patients through services.

Missed court attendances add strain to a justice system already holding a backlog of nearly 65,000 Crown Court cases. By improving how and when people receive updates, our Witness Care solution is designed to support timely attendance and reduce disruption.

NHS switchboards are overwhelmed, handling around 3,400 calls a day from patients chasing updates, checking results or confirming appointments. Each repeat call blocks lines and diverts staff from care. With rising demand, adding more staff is no longer sustainable.

UK policing faced a similar surge. Launching secure digital portals lets crime victims access their case updates 24/7 and communicate directly with their police contact without calling the non-emergency 101 line. The solution was released in under 15 weeks, removing thousands of avoidable calls and saving £1.4 million a year.

Across the NHS, patients often need to navigate over 10 different phone numbers to check or change appointments, follow up on referrals or get results. This fragmentation drives avoidable calls, duplicated assessments and did-not-attend (DNAs). The impact is substantial: over 8M outpatient appointments were missed and 16.6 million calls were made to NHS 111, resulting in £1.2 billion in yearly wasted resources.

Thames Valley Police and Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary faced the same issue. After adopting a Salesforce-powered portal with real-time updates and proactive messaging, they reduced failed demand, shifted contact online and avoided staffing costs equivalent to £8 million per year.

NHS switchboard, booking and outpatient administration teams face rising demand driven by routine enquiries, repeated follow-ups and manual updates. This also creates pressure across clinical services, as missed information and delays ripple through clinics and care pathways. Increasing headcount is costly and rarely fixes the underlying issue.

Rather than hiring more staff, police forces introduced digital portals for 24/7 access to updates, proactive messaging to prevent follow-up calls and AI-powered automation to remove repetitive tasks. By digitising predictable communication, they avoided hiring 31 additional staff and maintained service quality with existing teams, demonstrating how targeted digital support can reduce pressure without expanding the workforce.