WithYou: From anecdotal feedback to structured evidence for change

Image source: WithYou
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When people facing challenges with drugs and alcohol decide to call the charity WithYou, the window of opportunity to get them into the service can sometimes be minutes. Their phone line offers an accessible and non-judgemental way for people to reach out for support and to speak to their recovery team once they’re in-service. 

WithYou asked us to help them evaluate how their public phone lines were working so that they could prioritise ways to improve experiences of staff and callers. They wanted to understand why they were getting complaints and anecdotal feedback about people not being able to get through or not being called back.
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Limited data

WithYou has 80 local services offering drug and alcohol support across England and Scotland. As an organisation, they had gone through a huge transformation programme, launching an online chat service and more recently a new website, making it easier for people to find support near them and contact the service. 

However, limited data was available around the phone lines, making it hard to understand what was really happening on the ground.
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Our approach: mixed-methods for richer insights

Following a kick-off workshop and stakeholder interviews, we developed a bespoke research plan. We wanted to learn from frontline staff directly. We designed a survey that went out to people responsible for WithYou’s phone lines across the country. 

We used the insights from the survey to inform the themes we explored in follow-up team interviews. We also spent a day on-site in Wigan with the team responsible for answering calls, observing the phone lines in action.
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No one likes to phone a call centre… especially during crisis

Insight from the research included:

• Teams we spoke to were conscious of how phone line set-ups could impact people’s experience; above all their likelihood of using the service. We found that making users select options – although convenient for triaging calls – can shift the burden on users who often press the ‘wrong’ button and makes the experience much less warm. 
• The phone line can act as a ‘filter’ between clients and recovery workers who are often extremely busy with their caseload. Although most staff responsible for the phone line are administrators, we found that their role naturally evolved to take on emotional support as well. More training for frontline staff on the phones means they’ll be better equipped to comfort people who just want someone to talk to in between appointments.
• Supporting people who struggle with drugs and alcohol comes with challenges. People tend to pick-up the phone when they reach their lowest point and staff go a long way to listen and reassure them that help is available. Peer support is essential and having the phones in open spaces means that staff are able to safeguard each other, learn from one another, and provide the best possible support.
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Outcomes: defining the strategic role of phone lines

The research identified a number of tactical improvements to the way the phone lines are working but from a service design perspective, the project uncovered the need to review and refine the role of the phone lines. 

Should they act as a simple communication channel and a means of triaging queries? Or a helpline, and therefore a service in its own right? This is an important question to answer, which will inform changes to phone setup, staff training, query handling processes or call volume management. 

Stephen McCulloch, Executive Director of Marketing & Communications at WithYou, said:

“This work has enabled us to move from anecdotal feedback to structured  evidence around what we need to do to move forward. Working with Healthia has been invaluable as we define our strategy. They are collaborative, motivated and tenacious and it feels like they are part of my team.”

Cath Hoskins, Director of Service Delivery at WithYou, said:

"It was great to see from the research that our staff view the phone lines as a vital resource in providing care, and that we were able to directly involve them in this piece of research. The findings have sparked innovative ideas and will be pivotal in our approach to enhancing our service delivery."