Reducing disruption, avoiding unnecessary travel and helping staff stay focused on patient care
Sirona Care & Health is a community health provider operating across Bristol, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset. With around 4,000 staff working across approximately 100 sites (and many more delivering care directly in the community) its IT team faces a familiar but complex challenge: how to support a widely distributed workforce quickly and effectively.
For Paul Poynter, Head of IT Operations and Deputy Chief Digital Information Officer, and his team, the ability to resolve issues without delay is critical — not just for operational efficiency, but for ensuring staff can stay focused on delivering care.
The challenge
Supporting staff across sites and in the community
Unlike organizations with a centralized workforce, Sirona’s teams of carers are often on the move: visiting patients, working from different locations or operating remotely. And this creates pressure on the IT team because when issues arise, any delays can have a direct impact on care delivery and patient outcomes, particularly for community-based staff.
“For a community nurse to have an issue, then come back to one of our bases to see an engineer, is so time consuming and has a massive patient care effect.”
—Paul Poynter, Head of IT Operations and Deputy Chief Digital Information Officer
Historically, not all members of the IT team had the level of access required to resolve issues quickly. As the organization grew, this became a bottleneck that slowed response times, making it harder to support users efficiently.
At the same time, any solution needed to meet strict requirements around security, ease of use, and cost control within an NHS-funded organization.
The approach
Enabling fast, remote support at scale
Sirona uses RealVNC to provide remote access and support across its IT operations, from first-line service desk engineers through to desktop and second-line teams.
This allows the team to troubleshoot issues, install software, transfer files, and support staff without requiring travel or complex setup.
“We can get onto people’s computers without them having to really have much interaction with it. That’s been a blessing.”
—Nathan Ellis, IT Service Desk Engineer
The impact
Faster support, fewer site visits, less disruption
By enabling remote support at scale, Sirona has improved the speed and efficiency of its IT service across the organization. The role-based access controls within RealVNC Connect have given Sirona’s IT team the confidence to expand access to the solution, resulting in even better outcomes for the team and the wider organization.
Since enabling more of the IT team with RealVNC, Sirona has seen faster resolution times, a reduced need for site visits, less disruption for staff, and better use of IT resources.
“It improves the responsiveness of our IT service, gives us a more flexible workforce and strengthens our operational resilience.”
—Paul Poynter
A clear example
Resolving issues without disrupting care
In one example, a complex issue that might previously have required a site visit could now be resolved remotely in around 30 minutes. Rather than interrupting their day, frontline staff can stay focused on their work, including patient-facing responsibilities.
“Being able to remote into [a carer’s device] while they’re out in the community is game changing.”
—Paul Poynter
A trusted, embedded capability
RealVNC has become an embedded and trusted part of Sirona’s IT environment, helping deliver consistent, reliable support across the organization.
“It’s a very handy piece of kit — it’s indispensable!”
—Nathan Ellis
As Sirona’s IT Team looks to the future, they see further opportunity to extend their use of RealVNC, particularly in areas such as reporting and integration, to unlock additional value over time.
