Beating the Backlog at Valentine Health Partnership

Valentine Health Partnership, serving over 32,000 patients, was working through a 6,000-letter backlog when they received an unwelcome surprise: a CQC inspection in just two weeks. The admin team was already stretched thin, and Practice Manager Laura felt mounting pressure to get the letters coded and actioned in time. That’s when they turned to BetterLetter- a move that not only helped them pass their inspection but also transformed their daily workflows for good

Racing Against Time

Last December, while Valentine Health Partnership was battling seasonal pressures and staff shortages, they received notice of an imminent CQC inspection. With thousands of patient letters still in the backlog, Laura described the urgency:

“We had trialled BetterLetter’s self-service and were using it to clear down our letters really well, but when we were told about an imminent CQC inspection in December, we knew we needed to ensure our backlog was completely gone. BetterLetter helped us by providing full-service coding while we continued with self-service.”

BetterLetter Gets to Work

Since Valentine was already onboarded to the BetterLetter platform, there was no friction in ramping up extra resources to tackle the backlog. The practice team simply uploaded an additional 6,000 letters, which BetterLetter’s AI processed, ready for review and approval. The AI flagged urgent letters and enabled triaging of documents with medication changes, new diagnoses, and time-sensitive care requirements.

Working alongside the practice team, BetterLetter’s coders cleared an average of 900 additional letters per day over three days. By then, the in-practice coders using the BetterLetter application were able to comfortably complete the backlog three days ahead of schedule. In Laura’s words:

“The full-service help finished about a week before the inspection, we were then completely up to date, and we have maintained that ever since just by using the self-service model.”

“The team undertook a challenging task and exceeded our expectations by delivering ahead of the deadline. The communication throughout the process was excellent.”
- Denise, General Operations Manager

Getting the Team On Board

After using BetterLetter’s full-service offering to clear the immediate backlog, the Valentine team transitioned to the self-service model for long-term sustainability. However, change is never easy- especially with the pressure of an upcoming inspection. The coding staff, led by Mel, initially had reservations, but once they started using BetterLetter, the benefits became clear:

“Some people are very resistant to change,” Laura admits. “But the more you use it, the quicker you get at it. We had one coder who was really against the change- now she says it’s so much quicker.”

Mel, who codes letters daily, also noticed immediate time savings:

“It has saved us a lot of time, which is a plus. Once you get used to it, it’s very easy to use.”

A Boost in Speed, Consistency and Confidence

As Valentine’s workflow team became more proficient with BetterLetter, their letter-processing speed steadily improved. Starting at an already impressive 30 documents per hour, their output increased to a median of 48 documents per hour by February.

BetterLetter’s AI doesn’t just save time- it also ensures that critical information doesn’t slip through the cracks. The platform automatically flags important details, such as safeguarding concerns, acting as a second set of ‘eyes’ for coders. 

“The feature that I really like is that if the AI finds safeguards anywhere in a patient’s record, it flags them up. Coders might not have looked that deep into a letter otherwise. Sometimes, they can disregard it if the letter makes it less applicable, but they like that they can just click it away. The consistency of coding has also improved.”

This improved consistency translates into better clinical data for GPs- without adding extra work for the admin staff.

Freeing Up Resources

With the letter backlog cleared, Valentine’s data team can now focus on other priorities, such as summarisation and administrative tasks. The pressure on Laura for constant oversight on the coders has also eased:

“They now know what should go into coding through BetterLetter, so I’m not having to micromanage them as much anymore. It’s less work for me, and it has made my life easier.”

Meanwhile, Mel and her colleagues appreciate how the platform streamlines their day-to-day tasks:

“Because we do coding, summarising, and other tasks, BetterLetter gives us more time to handle things that might have been put on the back burner before.”

Ongoing Support and Continuous Improvement

Laura and Mel highlight that the BetterLetter team is always within reach, whether through live chat support or new feature rollouts.

“The live chat is excellent,” Mel says. “If someone doesn’t know the answer, they go and find it out. Very, very good.”

Laura also appreciates how BetterLetter helps with training and onboarding new coders:

“What’s great is that when I’m training new staff, I can actually see which letters they’ve worked on, perform a data quality check, and use it as a training tool.”

A Long-Term Solution for Other Practices

Now that Valentine Health Partnership has cleared its backlog and established an efficient, sustainable workflow, Laura highly recommends BetterLetter to other practices:

“It’s a lot safer, you have consistent coding, and it’s a lot quicker- especially for those standard letters that need just a bit of coding. If another practice asked me, I would recommend BetterLetter.”

Mel agrees that, given the growing volume of NHS letters, AI tools like BetterLetter are the future:

“I think AI is the way forward for coding. I love it- it’s really good.”

Ready to Clear Your Backlog and Streamline Document Processing?‍

Valentine Health Partnership’s experience proves that, with the right tech partner, even a daunting backlog and an impending crisis can become manageable. Beyond solving immediate challenges, BetterLetter has provided them with a sustainable way to keep patient data accurate while freeing up valuable time for other critical tasks.

If your practice is looking for a proven solution to reduce paperwork, save time, and maintain coding accuracy, please email us on hello@betterletter.ai to see how we can transform your document processing operations.