Hi again! I’m back as promised to start explaining how everything works in the operations department here at IDS UK.

First things first – we are in charge of getting all the cogs working for each WIS and Help2Health cycle; making sure that each of our pharmacies and GP surgeries receive  leaflets and posters, and that they are displayed correctly. This week our team of 50 merchandisers have begun cycle 4 of the year and we have been very busy preparing.   Every merchandiser attends an IDS briefing where they receive all the necessary paperwork and it is ensured that they are raring to go!  They then work very hard to make sure each site is visited, leaflets and posters are distributed, queries are dealt with and all information is feedback to head office.

Before the team start their work we make sure they have all the materials they need. The warehouse play the biggest role in all of this – and I will be talking to you about that next week. So until then keep an eye out for Sarah’s blog where she will be talking about the Help2Health pharmacy service.

Take Care, Sam.

A WIS Rack Located in GP Surgery Waiting Room

 No more binned leaflets or dog eared posters!

In my last blog I claimed that IDS UK can effectively communicate healthcare information to a target market. Well here’s one way how……

Our GP surgery network known as Waiting Room Information Services (WIS) is made up of 6,000 surgery sites, equalling an impressive 38 million registered patients.  Each site is equipped with a wall mounted leaflet display rack in its waiting room, which our merchandising team visit every 3 months to ensure it is fully stocked with information leaflets.  In summary we ensure that each leaflet doesn’t end up in the bin or under a pile of magazines, it reaches a prime position in the waiting room and gets in front of patients. 

To maximise messages the majority of WIS sites also have poster frames with attached leaflets dispensers in their waiting rooms. Like the leaflet racks these are visited every 3 months to be re-stocked.  We make certain that posters don’t end up stuck down a quiet corridor or overlapped and dog eared. 

WIS is pretty good really; it must be, as a lot of hard work goes on behind the scenes making sure each leaflet and poster is distributed, and displayed successfully.  Keep an eye out for Sam’s Tuesday blog as she’ll let you in on what happens in our Operations office at the other end of the corridor.

Have a great week,

Sarah

Keep Healthcare Leaflets Out of the Bin!

Hello, my name is Sam and I will be enlightening you with exciting IDS info over the next few months once a week along with Sarah – and the odd input from other members of the IDS team! As I work for Operations I will keep you up to date with what’s going on at our end, explain how it all works, and how hard it really is!

Time for some introductions……I have been working for IDS for 4 years now; I have just finished University in Bristol studying English and Media and have worked for IDS part time throughout in a number of different departments. Hanna Rogerson, Operations Manager is the glue that holds this department together. Hanna has worked here for over 5 years now; building a great relationship with the field team has made her a very successful manager, as well as knowing everything! We would be pretty stuffed without her. Julie Beard is also part of the Op’s team. Julie has worked at IDS for over two years and takes care of Help2Health, poster frames and being a computer whizz helps us out often. Last but not least we have Debbie Beattie who is in the office with us once a week for payroll; she has worked here for over 2 years and spends the rest of her week in finance. She ensures our field team gets paid, one of the most important jobs I’m sure they would say.

That’s the introductions done, if you’re interested in finding out what happens behind the scenes then keep clicking!

I’m Sarah, nice to meet you! Over the coming months I’ll be bringing IDS news to this blog and helping you to get to know our team.  I have worked for IDS for a number of years helping to distribute patient information into GP waiting rooms, pharmacies and online. Experience has shown me that communicating messages effectively to a target market is not always easy; however we can help achieve this in the healthcare environment.  Over the next couple of entries I will explain in more detail our services and how they can help patient information reach millions.   In the meantime we have some exciting office news:  

• Big congratulations to our Operations Manager Hanna who married long term partner Matt on September 11th.  A beautiful location and a beautiful bride made for a beautiful day – enjoy your honeymoon Mr and Mrs Taylor!
• Operations Administrator Nicola Masters and husband Martin welcomed their daughter Bethany Ruth to the world.  Weighing 6lbs 12oz a healthy Bethany arrived early in the evening on September 12th.  Good work Nic!

The Newest Member of IDS & The Wedding of the Year