Barts and The London NHS Trust reduce missed appointments with Orange's patient appointment reminder service

Orange has today announced that Barts and the London Hospital NHS Trust has significantly reduced the number of missed outpatient appointments since the implementation of Orange Health Gateway, an automatic appointment reminder text service. The service, which is powered by iPlato, was launched in August 2010.

To help reduce the number of missed appointments, the Trust selected Orange Health Gateway, a two way service, which enables it to send timely, personalised patient appointment reminders via SMS. The Trust sends approximately 2,000 texts each day and receives around 100 replies requesting to cancel  or reschedule appointments, helping to improve productivity and enable the long-term improvement of patient care.  Since the implementation of text reminders, the number missed appointments has reduced by over 20 per cent in some services.

Gregory Bird, Deputy General Manager, Outpatient Services at Barts and the London NHS Trust said, “This kind of two way texting system turns a simple SMS into a productivity tool, enabling patients to quickly and easily notify us if they wish to cancel or reschedule their appointment. This two way communication helps save time and hospital resources, and the cancelled appointments can be reallocated to another patient. The service allows us to optimise attendance rates and better manage capacity and demand. Detailed system reports also help us to improve data quality. Patient care is at the heart of everything we do and appointment text reminders play a key part in this.”

Kate Jack, Head of Public Sector and Health at Orange, said, “This project is all about enabling more effective patient communication. Orange Health Gateway is a simple but effective tool that allows hospitals to make substantial time and efficiency savings. Mobile technology is revolutionising how hospitals operate and, with patient numbers increasing and staff under increasing pressure to meet efficiency targets, it has never been more important.”

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About Orange UK
Orange is the key brand of the France Telecom Group, one of the world's leading telecommunications operators. With almost 131 million customers, the Orange brand now covers Internet, television and mobile services in the majority of countries where the Group operates.

In the UK, Orange provides high quality GSM coverage to 99% of the UK population, and 3G coverage to more than 93%.

Orange and any other Orange product or service names included in this material are trade marks of Orange Brand Services Limited.

On July 1 2010, the company became part of Everything Everywhere, one company that runs two of Britain's most famous brands - Orange UK and T-Mobile UK - with plans to transform the industry by giving customers instant access to everything, everywhere, offering them the best value, best choice and best network coverage in the country. Everything Everywhere Limited is the UK’s biggest communications company, with a combined customer base of almost 28 million people and more than 720 retail stores across the country. Everything Everywhere Limited is registered at Hatfield Business Park, Hatfield, Hertfordshire, AL10 9BW under the registered company number 02382161.

For more information please call the Orange Press Office             0870 3731500      , or visit www.orange.co.uk/newsroom

About iPLATO
iPLATO Healthcare is an innovation company dedicated to mobile health since 2004. iPLATO’s evidence based mobile health solutions have proven to improve patient access to healthcare, to enable powerful health promotion targeted at people at risk and to support people with long term conditions.
Serving millions of patients and thousands of healthcare professionals every day iPLATO has emerged as the leader in mobile health. Across this network the company is running campaigns to promote smoking cessation, weight loss, childhood immunisation and pandemic awareness as well as mobile patient support services for people with diabetes, hypertension, epilepsy, COPD and HIV.

NOMINEES ARE UNVEILED FOR THE ORANGE WEDNESDAYS RISING STAR AWARD IN 2012

* The Orange Wednesdays Rising Star Award is the only award at the Orange British Academy Film Awards to be voted for by the British public
* Orange Wednesdays customers have selected the shortlist of five from a long-list of eight determined by the award jurors
* The winner will be announced at the awards on 12 February 2012
* Previous winners include: James McAvoy, Eva Green, Shia LaBeouf, Noel Clarke, Kristen Stewart and Tom Hardy
London 11 January 2012. Today at BAFTA’s headquarters, Pippa Harris, award jury chair, Deputy Chair of BAFTA’s Film Committee and producing partner of Sam Mendes, announced the hotly anticipated nominees for the Orange Wednesdays Rising Star Award 2012 as selected by Orange Wednesdays customers from a long-list of eight. The nominations recognise five international actors and actresses whose talent has captured the imagination of the British public. The nominees are:
* ADAM DEACON - Hackney-born Adam rose to fame in Noel Clarke’s KIDULTHOOD, before reprising the role in the follow-up ADULTHOOD and again working with Clarke in 4321. Adam then went onto make his own mark on the film industry by co-writing, directing and starring in Brit comedy and box office success ANUVAHOOD.
* CHRIS HEMSWORTH - Australian actor Chris became an overnight success after landing the title role in film version of the Marvel comic THOR and he will reprise the role in THE AVENGERS next year. Chris is next starring in SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN opposite Kirsten Stewart and Charlize Theron and will play Formula One driver James Hunt in Ron Howard’s RUSH.
* CHRIS O’DOWD - Chris began his career in the cult comedy series THE IT CROWD before breaking into film with roles including THE BOAT THAT ROCKED, GULLIVER’S TRAVELS and hugely successful BRIDESMAIDS. Chris will next be seen in Judd Apatow’s THIS IS 40 alongside Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann.
* EDDIE REDMAYNE - After receiving much critical acclaim on the West End and Broadway stage Eddie burst onto the film scene in MY WEEK WITH MARILYN alongside Michelle Williams, Dame Judy Dench and Kenneth Branagh. He recently finished filming BIRDSONG the BBC adaptation of the acclaimed novel by Sebastian Faulks and will soon be starring in the film version of the musical LES MISÉRABLES.
* TOM HIDDLESTON - RADA graduate Tom broke onto the big screen earlier this year in Kenneth Branagh's THOR. Tom’s recent projects include Woody Allen’s film MIDNIGHT IN PARIS, Steven Spielberg’s WAR HORSE, and THE DEEP BLUE SEA opposite Rachel Weisz. Tom has recently finished filming THE AVENGERS which is due for release in May 2012.
Orange’s accolade for up and coming talent is the only award at the Orange British Academy Film Awards to be voted for by the public. Voting takes place both at orange.co.uk/bafta and via text*. The winner will be announced at the star-studded Orange British Academy Film Awards on Sunday 12 February 2012.
Now in its seventh year, the award has set a standard for identifying talent destined for super-stardom. Previous winners include James McAvoy in 2006, Eva Green in 2007, Shia LaBeouf in 2008, Noel Clarke in 2009, Kristen Stewart in 2010 and Tom Hardy in 2011.
Potential rising stars were proposed by BAFTA members and leading film industry insiders to create an initial list of contenders who have appeared in one or more feature films, with at least one of those films released in the current awards year, 1 January to 31 December 2011. The jury for the award featured a raft of leading figures from across the film industry, including actors Simon Pegg and Sienna Miller, jury chair Pippa Harris, producing partner of Sam Mendes (Revolutionary Road, Jarhead), four-time Harry Potter director David Yates, producer Allon Reich (28 Weeks Later, The History Boys, The Last King of Scotland), casting director Nina Gold (The King’s Speech) and film publicist Kate Lee. These jurors whittled down the names to a long list of eight. These eight were then voted on by Orange Wednesdays customers, who have determined the final five that will now be voted for by the public.
Pippa Harris, Orange Wednesdays Rising Star award jury chair and Deputy Chair of BAFTA’s Film Committee, said: “It’s great to involve the general public in championing the stars of the future, which is why the Orange Wednesdays Rising Star Award is such a fantastic initiative. The jury had a tough job deciding the long list of eight, as we were spoilt for choice. With such an array of new talent, I can’t wait to see who the public choose as their winner.”
Spencer McHugh, Director of Brand at Orange, said: “With the award now in its seventh year, we continue to be awed by how enthusiastic the British public are when it comes to celebrating future film talent. The fact that figures such as Simon Pegg, Sienna Miller and the rest of our esteemed jury so kindly offer their time shows how the film world has embraced the award.”
The Orange Wednesdays Rising Star Award was created in honour of Mary Selway, the highly respected BAFTA-winning casting director whose career spanned three decades and over ninety films before she died in 2004. She worked with notable directors such as Steven Spielberg, Roman Polanski, Clint Eastwood and Ridley Scott, contributing to the creation of some of the silver screen's most memorable characters.
For more information on the Orange Wednesdays Rising Star Award go to www.orange.co.uk/bafta

Orange UK launches own brand Android tablet - the ‘Tahiti’

The Tahiti is the first Orange branded Android tablet to be offered in the UK, available nationwide today
The lightweight Tahiti features a 7” multi-touch LCD screen and dual core 1.2GHz processor – perfect for users wanting to access multimedia content on the go
Available for £69.99 on a £25 per month, 24 month data plan, the Tahiti will also be available free on a Connected 24 month plan with the San Francisco II mobile phone from only £41 per month
Orange today announced the Orange Tahiti, a super sleek and stylish Android tablet available from £69.99 on a price plan of £25 per month. Rolling out across Orange retail channels this week, the Tahiti is the first Orange branded tablet to be ranged by Orange in the UK.

Building on the success of the Orange branded mobile phone range, and continuing in the theme of offering outstanding value innovation, the Tahiti from Orange provides users with a tablet experience traditionally associated with a more high-end device. Running the Android Honeycomb operating system, the Tahiti also provides access to thousands of free apps from the Android marketplace and full Adobe Flash Player support.
Stylish and lightweight, offering great portability by weighing just 390g, the Tahiti also features a 7” multi-touch LCD screen and a dual core 1.2GHz Qualcomm processor, allowing users to surf the internet and watch films with ease when they’re on the go.  Available in a slate black and silver finish, the Tahiti also features a 5 mega pixel camera, AGPS, WiFi, Bluetooth as well as a 3G+ connection.

Customers will also have access to a range of great benefits as an Orange customer including:
Orange Wednesdays: offering 2-for-1 cinema tickets every Wednesday
Best Value Home Broadband: great value home broadband from only £5 a month
The Tahiti is available for £69.99 on a £25 a month, 24 month data plan which includes 1GB of anytime data, 1GB of quiet time data* and unlimited WiFi hotspot access each month (subject to fair usage).
Alternatively, it is also available free as part of a Connected 24 month plan with the San Francisco II** handset for £41 per month. The new Connected plan comes with a 2GB anytime data allowance and unlimited WiFi hotspot access (subject to fair usage), which can be shared across both devices, as well as 200 anytime call minutes and unlimited texts.

Paul Jevons, Director of Products and Devices, Everything Everywhere, said: "We’re pleased to be expanding our portfolio of own-brand devices into tablets for the first time. The Tahiti is a stylish, lightweight device with a great quality screen, which we believe really does offer great value innovation and will help customers to get the most out of their multimedia content whilst on the go”.

For more information on the Tahiti from Orange, including full price plan terms and conditions, please visit www.orange.co.uk.