Mintivo will help Prospect Hospice maintain resilience of vital IT services

A Wiltshire hospice charity says a new IT deal with support services expert Mintivo will ensure its vital support systems remain stable and resilient.

Prospect Hospice in Wroughton, Wiltshire, provides end of life care for more than 2,000 people in Swindon and north Wiltshire, including Marlborough and Royal Wootton Bassett, every year. Head of Information Management and Technology Kate Fry said its 230 staff need to be able to rely on its IT system.

“Having a really solid backup in terms of our infrastructure and management of our core systems is really important to us,” she said. “We are fortunate in that we have our own expertise in house but it is reassuring to have Mintivo there if things go wrong, but also to help us plan for the future.”

Mintivo Managing Director Alex Jukes is delighted the Chippenham company has secured the contract after being recommended by another of its clients, Dorothy House Hospice in Winsley, near Bradford on Avon.

“It’s really nice that Dorothy House feels it can be a sponsor for us in this way,” he said. “I’m very pleased to be working with Prospect because we want to more work in Swindon and Wiltshire. Prospect is an excellent charity that, like Dorothy House, helps so many people at such a difficult time in their lives.”

The contract is the third major charity deal won by the company over the last two years, with Wiltshire and Bath Air Ambulance signing up alongside Dorothy House. Third sector work now makes up more than 20 per cent of the company’s clients and Mr Jukes is confident Prospect will benefit from its experience.

“We enjoy working with charities,” said Mr Jukes. “They are increasingly being asked to do more with less funding, while demands on their services are rising. For that reason they are more engaged to work with partners on how they do that collaboratively, because they appreciate they can’t do it on their own.”

He said Mintivo will focus on maintaining the charity’s server and networking infrastructure to keep them running efficiently, allowing its own IT staff to focus on working with staff. Mintivo’s own help desk will be able to step in for holiday cover or at busy times.

It will also help the charity get the best out of its existing technology and advise on how it invests in the future to help it get the best value for money in a sector where every pound spent has to count.

“Like many charities, Prospect want to make the most of the investment they’ve made in Microsoft and moving into more modern ways of working,” said Mr Jukes. “So a lot of the strategy we’re developing at the moment is helping them maximise that investment.

“Everyone at Prospect is working in a fairly high-demand environment and pretty much everything they are doing is running through IT. What they’re delivering is very sensitive and their staff are really committed to doing a good job.

“We want to make sure the technology is an enabler for them and in those areas where it isn’t, we can focus on improving it – and we can see opportunities to improve further.”

Mrs Fry said the time was right for the charity to find a new IT partner and Mintivo fitted its needs. “What we were looking for was a really trusted provider that we could turn to for expert advice and  obviously the price had to be good as well,” she said. “Mintivo were flexible in finding the right sort of solution for us so it was an easy decision.”

She said she is looking forward to capitalising on Mintivo’s experience. “They’ve got that industry experience, as they work with lots of different clients and we can pick up on that expert knowledge,” she said.

“They have good experience of working with hospices and they understand the background and the practicalities. Them being local is really nice as well and having someone that can come in to see us in person will be really helpful.”