With the new year in sight, Reliance High-Tech is reminding all UK public sector and not-for-profit organisations that they only have until 30 April 2017 to sign up or renew a contract for its Reliance Protect lone worker safety service package via an exclusive NHS Framework Agreement.

The NHS Framework Agreement was originally introduced in 2009 and renewed in 2013 to encourage the NHS and wider public sector organisations to create safer conditions for staff working alone often in community-based roles.

With more than 520 public sector contracts, Reliance Protect is the UK’s leading provider of lone worker protection services. In addition to the 230 contracts held with NHS Trust organisations, the service is benefiting local authorities, social housing providers, charities, education providers, probation services and central government agencies.

Commenting, Chris Allcard, Head of Lone Worker Services at Reliance High-Tech, said: “Despite increasing costs, we have bucked industry trends and maintained our 2013 prices over the four years of the current Framework. Aware of the financial pressures facing the public sector, our intention is to keep the current prices fixed for all customers under the NHS Framework Agreement, including organisations who sign new contracts before the 30 April 2017 deadline.

“We will continue to upgrade the service as new technologies come on stream. We are making major investments in staffing levels and systems support, including a new online customer portal with far greater functionality, features and benefits. Reflecting changing user needs, we’ve strengthened the service over the four years, by adding flexibility around sharing devices to cater for a more mobile and flexible workforce, along with improved monthly reporting to enhance insights into usage patterns.

“Other new features include a roaming sim card service option for staff in remote areas where mobile phone coverage may be weak, plus a new welfare check system to give staff and managers additional reassurance. What’s more, the team manager and train-the-trainer courses we’ve developed have been extremely popular.”

Since 2013 more than 33,000 red alerts have been handled by Reliance Protect for NHS Framework customers. Users have logged more than 3.4m amber alerts, enabling them to provide notifications of potentially vulnerable situations including details of locations due to be visited, the nature of tasks to be performed and risks identified. The average number of amber alerts per device has risen from six to eight per month over the last eighteen months, demonstrating that the devices are increasingly being adopted as part of the daily routine of working safely.

Offering proven value with the convenience of a fully managed service and guaranteed service levels, the NHS Framework Agreement eliminates the day-to-day burden on public sector employers of procuring, implementing and running their own lone worker protection operations. It offers an easy, cost-effective way for employers to mitigate risk, fulfil their duty of care and create a safer working environment via a service that is fully transparent, constantly monitored and accountable to rigorous NHS benchmarks.