Reliance High-Tech’s exclusive Framework Agreement to deliver its Reliance Protect lone worker safety services to staff in the NHS and UK public sector has been extended a further year until April 2017.
Reliance High-Tech reports it’s already assisting hundreds of NHS Trusts, local authorities, social housing providers, charities and central government agencies to safeguard thousands of lone workers with its Reliance Protect product via the NHS Framework Agreement. That agreement began in April 2013 as a way to simplify the procuring of lone worker protection.
The service combines personal protection devices with back-up in the event of a threat or concern, typically verbal or physical abuse at work faced by public sector staff.
Since April 2013, upwards of 30,000 new users have signed up to the service, with the rate of uptake rising month-on-month as awareness grows, the firm reports. Whilst NHS Trusts remain the core of the customer base, the uptake in the wider public sector has grown the company says. Social housing providers, local authorities, charities, probation services, and central Government bodies represent over half of new clients accessing the framework.
Chris Allcard, Head of Lone Worker solutions at Reliance High-Tech, said: “We are delighted that the NHS Framework Agreement is being extended for another year. It provides a resounding confirmation that we are getting it right and the service is meeting our customers’ requirements. Recent months have been extremely busy as we have further developed our services, upgraded existing customers onto new devices and contracts, and rolled out solutions to new customers. More organisations have signed up for the service in the last year than at any previous time. To support this, we are investing significantly in staff and IT systems, for example, doubling both our field-based training team and customer support team in the last 12 months.
“The NHS Framework Agreement enables any public sector organisation to procure Reliance Protect services – which are fully transparent with agreed costs, guaranteed service metrics and robust quality assurance – without a drawn-out or costly tender process. What’s more, our team takes care of the administration backed by extensive field-based training, e-learning, local team leader engagement and reporting, so enabling our customers to focus on their business priorities while we help safeguard their staff.”
Reliance High-Tech says that it will launch a number of service developments, including more flexibility around shared devices. These new features will acknowledge changing work patterns such as round-the-clock working, workforce mobility and developments in management information reporting. Visit www.relianceprotect.co.uk.
