Healthcare data logistics: the national COVID infection survey
Granby was brought in as the logistics provider on a critical UK-wide project. Our decades of experience in 3PL was really put to the test, in what is one of our largest and most complex public sector projects ever.
Overview
The project lead is a multinational healthcare data science company working on behalf of the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Early in 2020, the ONS moved quickly to start gathering infection data from across the UK with this partner.
Infection survey data informed the government’s response and its ability to plan resources. It was collected by field agents who swabbed participants in the survey on an ongoing weekly basis. Granby facilitated the collection of this data between May 2020 and August 2022, through fulfilment of equipment and customer service support.
- 30,000,000 items into Granby
- 22,250,000 items ordered by agents
- 10,000+ emailed handled
- 18,000+ calls handled
- 240,000+ kits collated at Granby
- 255,000+ orders processed
Granby’s core responsibilities
- Ensuring each Study Worker had the resources they needed to complete their tasks. Around 20,000 agents were involved in the project.
- Distributing millions of items. The kits were individually collated within our production facilities and prepared for despatch.
- Establishing a customer support line for the 20,000 Study Workers, so they could contact us directly if they needed more equipment.
- Stock that wasn’t used was re-collected by Granby.
- Our agile capabilityallowed for the safe and efficient completion of a substantial project with particular risks.
- High value data was collected that UK government departments relied upon during and after the pandemic lockdown, between May 2020 and August 2022.
3PL and Customer Service for the public sector
- Granby is an award-winning 3PL company and we bring decades of experience to the table.
- Our business model is founded on a commitment to investing in our people as well as our technology, both of which give our clients the edge they need.
- As a public sector partner, we’re primed for Social Value; as an employee owned business, the notion of social value is part of our culture.
A good 3PL partner isn’t daunted by complexity – we’re geared up to meet the challenge, bringing experience, skills and an active mindset, backed by a robust 3PL fulfilment platform.
From despatch to replenishing stock to collection, our people knew what they were doing at all times. They’re experienced and we invest in training and support.
We also invest heavily in the development of our fulfilment system, SCOPe, a robust framework that supports timescales, budgets and risk management as well as business intelligence and customer data.
Our approach is to make all our projects cost-effective – adding value and making savings where possible.
Added value and Social Value
As a 3PL partner to the public sector, we offer first class services that are backed by a genuine commitment to Social Value. Our aim is to help the public sector deliver projects where added value is a catalyst for positive impact.
As the logistics partner on this project, we were able to create new jobs in our local community. This is especially important to a city like Blackburn, where some areas are in the top 10% most deprived in England with the 9th highest child poverty rates.
The logistics for this project were significant – the project was large, long and complex with many moving parts. We were proud to be able to set a very high standard and show what an SME can achieve.