How one UK care agency cut phone interruptions by 70%
How Soma Healthcare transformed care coordination with AI
The challenge: constant interruptions and overwhelmed staff
Soma Healthcare, a homecare agency serving clients across Greater London, was facing a crisis familiar to many UK care providers. In one of their departments a team of 3 care coordinators and 2 admin staff was fielding a relentless stream of calls:
- Carers calling in sick or running late
- Family members asking for updates
- New referral inquiries
- Council and NHS professionals
- Routine scheduling questions
- Complaints requiring immediate attention
The result? Constant interruptions meant critical tasks - care plan updates, compliance documentation, quality checks - were being pushed to evenings and weekends.
"We were in a perpetual state of reactive firefighting. Every time the phone rang, someone had to drop what they were doing. Staff were burnt out from handling complaints and aggressive callers directly. It was exhausting and unsustainable."
Jason Walker, CEO, Soma Healthcare (30+ years in care)
The breaking point
The team was drowning. Staff morale was suffering. Not from lack of care - but from the mental toll of:
- Handling aggressive or upset callers without support
- Dropping important work mid-task to answer phones
- Working late to catch up on documentation
- Never having time for proactive quality work
"The worst part wasn't the volume - it was the emotional labour. Staff were taking complaints and attacks personally, then having to switch immediately back to complex casework. The mental health impact was real."
Enter Robin: AI built for UK homecare
In October 2024, Soma Healthcare deployed Robin AI - PriorityLine's voice assistant designed specifically for UK homecare agencies.
What makes Robin different from generic chatbots:
- Care industry intelligence: Understands UK homecare terminology, contexts, and urgency levels
- Professional call handling: Manages difficult callers calmly, filtering emotional content before it reaches staff
- 8-category triage: Emergency, Sick Carer, Regulatory, Routine Care, Complaint, Inquiry, Sales/Cold, Routine
- Complete documentation: Every call logged with transcript, timestamp, and urgency classification
- 24/7 availability: No voicemail, no missed calls, no delays
The implementation: simpler than expected
Timeline: Less than one month from decision to full operation
Setup process:
- Robin went live on a dedicated number alongside existing phone system
- Team monitored daily call summaries to ensure nothing was missed
- System worked seamlessly from day 1
- Staff training required: Half a day
"We expected a painful learning curve. Instead, it just... worked. The daily summary emails meant we could verify every call was handled properly. Within a week, we trusted it completely."
The results: real data from 3 months of operation
Call volume handled
Since October 1st, 2024:
- 1,500+ calls logged and documented
- Average: 500 calls per month
- 820 tickets created (issues requiring coordinator action)
- 680+ calls handled entirely by Robin (no staff time needed)
Sales call elimination: 97% reduction
Before Robin: Sales and cold calls consumed significant staff time After Robin: 97% of time-wasting sales calls eliminated
How it works: When callers hang up immediately after Robin's introduction, they're likely sales calls. Robin logs them, but staff never waste time engaging.
Time saved: Approximately 8-10 hours per month previously spent on unwanted cold calls
Staff wellbeing transformation
The unexpected benefit: Mental health improvement
Before Robin:
- Staff handled aggressive callers directly
- Complaints felt personal
- Emotional toll affected morale
After Robin:
- Robin absorbs initial complaints professionally
- Staff receive structured summaries, not raw anger
- Coordinators call back with solutions, not defensiveness
- "By the time we return the call with a solution, emotions have settled. The conversation is constructive, not combative."
Quality and transparency gains
Complete visibility:
- Every call searchable by date, urgency, category, caller
- All coordinators can see ticket status and resolution notes
- Patterns emerge (e.g., repeated issues with specific clients or carers)
- CQC-ready audit trails automatically generated
Jason Walker's assessment: "The quality of our service has increased. Customer satisfaction has increased. But most importantly, our team's wellbeing has improved. Staff focus on solving problems, not managing stress."
Robin's comprehensive audit trails also help agencies prepare for CQC inspections—learn more about CQC compliance documentation with AI.
The real ROI: staff equivalent savings
Conservative estimate: Robin's impact is equivalent to 1 full-time care coordinator in capacity freed up.
With transparency and analytics features: Equivalent to 2 care coordinators saved through:
- Faster ticket resolution (no time lost answering routine calls)
- Better workload distribution (visible ticket assignments)
- Proactive issue identification (trend analysis)
With outbound calling capabilities (tested at Soma): Additional equivalent of 2 care quality assistants through:
- Automated wellness check calls
- Post-visit satisfaction surveys
- Proactive client engagement
Total potential: Equivalent to 4 FTE positions in operational capacity
At average care coordinator salary (£32,000/year):
- 1 FTE saved = £32,000/year
- 2 FTE saved = £64,000/year
- 4 FTE saved = £128,000/year
Robin cost: Starting from £87/user/month (£1,044/year for single user)
ROI even at conservative 1 FTE estimate: 30x first-year return
Want to calculate your own agency's missed call costs? See our complete breakdown of missed call costs in UK homecare.
Beyond efficiency: transformation, not replacement
What Robin doesn't do: ❌ Replace human judgment ❌ Make clinical decisions ❌ Handle complex negotiations ❌ Provide emotional support
What Robin does brilliantly: ✅ Answer every call instantly (24/7/365) ✅ Triage and document accurately ✅ Filter sales and spam calls ✅ Shield staff from initial emotional intensity ✅ Create complete audit trails ✅ Free care teams for higher-value work
"This isn't about cutting staff - it's about letting skilled coordinators do the work they're trained for, not spend all day answering phones."
Unexpected benefits
1. Improved customer satisfaction
Families appreciate:
- 24/7 availability (no voicemail after 5pm)
- Professional, consistent responses
- Faster issue resolution (coordinators have time to investigate)
2. Better staff recruitment and retention
Word spreads: Soma is a less stressful place to work. Recruitment easier. Turnover lower.
3. Council and CQC confidence
Commissioners reviewing Soma for contracts are impressed by:
- Complete call documentation
- Rapid emergency response protocols
- Technology-enabled transparency
"We've already received outstanding feedback from council clients during tender reviews. The audit trail alone differentiates us from competitors."
For a detailed example of how Robin handles emergency situations, read our 8-minute emergency response case study.
4. New service capabilities
With time freed up, Soma launched:
- Proactive carer retention check-ins
- Regular client wellness calls
- Faster response to regulatory requests
Lessons learned: what Soma would do differently
What went right: ✅ Launching on parallel number allowed gradual confidence building ✅ Daily summaries provided essential verification ✅ Half-day training was sufficient (system is intuitive)
What they'd change:
- Start during quieter period (though it worked fine during busy season too)
- Trust the AI faster - unnecessary monitoring in week 1
- Communicate earlier with families (though no complaints occurred)
Is this replicable for your agency?
Soma Healthcare is a real London homecare agency with standard challenges. If you're experiencing:
- Constant phone interruptions
- Staff working late to catch up on documentation
- Complaints about unreturned calls
- Difficulty finding time for quality improvement work
- Mental health strain from managing difficult callers
Robin AI is purpose-built for exactly your situation.
What happens next?
Interested in seeing how Robin would handle your agency's call patterns?
We offer a free 7-day call analysis - no obligation, no sales pitch.
We'll:
- Review your current call volume and types
- Model expected time savings
- Show exactly how Robin would handle your 5 most common scenarios
- Provide a custom ROI projection based on your staffing costs
Book Your Free Analysis →
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