Supportworks ITSM will be used by the Trust's Service Desk to provide support to the thousands of medical and administrative staff using desktop and clinical systems. Supportworks ITSM will also provide the guidelines and framework for the Trust to adopt ITIL best practices.

Supportworks ITSM was selected by the procurement team as the best fit for the Trust's requirements. The team felt that Supportworks ITSM was easy and intuitive to use, could be easily customised and yet provided a framework to support ITIL. Supportworks ITSM will be used by the Service Desk team to not only track calls but escalate where appropriate and will enable the team to implement Service Level Agreements. In time the Trust will also utilise Supportworks ITSM's Configuration Management Database (CMDB) capabilities, its change management module, and it will use the NHS Seamless Ticketing and OTI facilities to communicate directly with the Local Service Provider.

Mark A. Wright, Head of Service Management at the Trust commented, "Due to the NHS National Programme for IT (NPfIT), there are more new clinical systems coming online and our users need support for these systems. In addition, so that we are able to take advantage of Seamless Ticketing we need to adhere to ITIL processes. Supportworks ITSM has given us the framework we need to adopt ITIL best practice and it will enable the Service Desk to provide many more extended and better services as the National Programme is implemented."

Mr. Wright continued, "One of the things we particularly liked about the sales team at Hornbill was their clear understanding of the NHS market place and our unique requirements. This approach to understanding its customers' requirements is truly reflected in Supportworks' intuitive nature. With just a small amount of training people can be using the system productively."

Gerry Sweeney, Managing Director at Hornbill Systems commented, "We are delighted to welcome University Hospital of South Manchester as a client. Over the last three years, Hornbill has been working very hard to really understand the NHS and ensure that our products meet its requirements. Through our 'Human Touch' initiative we aim to provide systems that are easy to use, with comprehensive out-of-the-box functionality that can also be customised to suit each individual organisation's way of working. Building on our early successes within the sector we have signed contracts for significant projects with NHS trusts every month this year. We believe that this is a reflection of our commitment to the sector."

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NOTES TO EDITORS
About University Hospital of South Manchester NHS Foundation Trust
Formed in 1994, University Hospital of South Manchester NHS Foundation Trust is a major acute teaching hospital Trust providing services to adults and children at Wythenshawe Hospital, and Withington Community Hospital, which is owned and managed by South Manchester Primary Care Trust.

The Trust employs 5,200 people including 800 who are employed via South Manchester Healthcare Limited; the Trust's Private Finance Initiative (PFI) partner. It has a total of 895 beds earns an annual income of around £260 million.

There are 430,000 patient attendances annually.

For more information, please visit: www.foundation.smtr.nhs.uk