Backlog Clearance

A backlog at a medical office

Clear your clinic letter backlog quickly, with experienced UK medical secretaries

If dictations are piling up because of vacancies, sickness, leave or extra clinics, DICT8 can help you clear them quickly. There are no set-up fees, monthly minimums or standing fees – you send us the dictations, our specialty-matched UK-based medical secretaries type them, and the letters are returned to you, usually within hours. Most customers are up and running within 48 hours.

Why backlogs matter

Delayed letters hold up patient care, create extra work for your own staff, and make it harder to meet the NHS Standard Contract expectation that clinic letters reach GPs within seven days. The longer a backlog runs, the harder it becomes to clear with in-house staff alone. This is often exacerbated by an uptick in stress related leave taken by staff as a result of the backlog itself!

How it works

  1. We agree how you will send work to us: through our free iPhone and Android app, by uploading files from your digital dictation machines, or directly from your existing digital dictation system.

  2. We set up your user accounts – usually within 24 hours.

  3. Your dictations are typed by specialty-matched UK-based medical secretaries with an average of 11 years’ NHS experience.

  4. Typed letters are returned to you securely, ready for signing.

How quickly can you clear it?

DICT8 transcribes a large amount of work across the NHS. We can therefore typically take a backlog, whether of a few hundred letters or many thousands, and get them typed and back to you within hours or days. You will get them back as we are typing them (rather than just at the end) and would have work starting to come back to you within a couple of hours of sending it o us.

What it costs

You pay for each line that DICT8 types, and nothing else. There are no set-up fees, monthly minimums or standing fees, and you can stop at any time.

Security and information governance

DICT8 is certified to ISO 27001, holds Cyber Essentials Plus, meets the standards of the Data Security and Protection Toolkit and is connected to the HSCN. All data is processed and stored in the UK. Read more about security.

Keeping it clear

Once your backlog is cleared, many customers keep DICT8 in place as overflow cover.

References

DICT8 can provide you with contacts at many Trusts in your area that have used the service to clear their backlogs.

Frequently asked questions

How quickly can it start? Most customers are up and running within a day or two (depending on IG clearance), and user accounts can usually be set up within a couple hours.

Do I need to buy any equipment? No. DICT8 take the dictation files that you already have in the case of backlogs. If you want to send us new dictations, clinicians can dictate using our free app, and if you already have digital dictation machines we can work with most modern devices.

Can you work with our existing dictation system? Yes. DICT8 can take work directly from many digital dictation workflow systems.

Is there a minimum volume or contract? There are no monthly minimums or standing fees. You can put through as little or as much work as you need.

Who types the letters? Specialty-matched UK-based medical secretaries with an average of 11 years’ NHS experience. No data leaves the UK.

To discuss clearing a backlog, call us on 0800 121 8105 or contact us here