Overview
Collingwood Health Group is a long-established GP partnership serving approximately 24,500 patients across three sites in North Tyneside: Collingwood Surgery, Jubilee Park Surgery and New York Surgery. Recognised as a teaching and training practice, the Group delivers high-quality, person-centred care through a dedicated multi-disciplinary team, supported by strong leadership and an experienced management structure.
The challenge
With patient demand increasing and an outdated telephone system struggling to cope, Collingwood Health Group faced long wait times, high call volumes and growing patient dissatisfaction. Limited reporting and call-handling functionality made it difficult to manage resources effectively and identify pressure points. The practice needed a more responsive communication system that could enhance both patient experience and operational efficiency.
The solution
Collingwood Health Group chose X-on Health’s Surgery Connect for its reliability, healthcare focus, and advanced features like Patient Callback and Phonebar which streamline call management and ease pressure on staff. More recently, the practice introduced Surgery Assist, a system-agnostic, AI-powered digital assistant supporting patient self-service. A smooth, collaborative rollout was achieved through X-on Health’s responsive onboarding and training support.
Early results and impact
“Surgery Connect has significantly improved access and resource management. Whilst it’s early days for Surgery Assist, the results so far are extremely positive. We’re looking forward to enhancing this over the coming months.”
Sandra, Practice Manager
Since adopting Surgery Connect, Collingwood Health Group has seen clear improvements in patient access, responsiveness and resource management. The callback feature has reduced waiting times and patient frustration, while the Phonebar consolidates all patient communication into one place to give staff real-time visibility and control over call traffic, improving overall efficiency.
Early results from Surgery Assist show strong adoption, with 334 patients using the digital assistant in its first month. The average wait time to answer has reduced, missed calls have dropped, and there has been an increase in abandoned call rate that suggests more patients are opting to use the digital assistant rather than wait in the queue. The “unanswered questions” feature has also enabled Sandra and the admin team to expand their bot, Colin, ensuring it continues to evolve in response to real patient needs.
Looking ahead
Collingwood Health Group continues to work with X-on Health to refine its digital access model. Over the next few months, the team will monitor results to measure sustained impact, aiming to further reduce call volumes, ease staff workload and strengthen a sustainable digital-first approach across all sites.
Summary
By adopting Surgery Connect and Surgery Assist, Collingwood Health Group has modernised its patient communication model. The practice’s openness to innovation and strong collaboration with X-on Health have laid the foundation for continued digital progress and measurable long-term benefits.