For Lime Tree Surgery, printing is not background admin. Across a busy multi-site GP environment, print supports consultations, pathology forms, staff rotas and day-to-day patient care.
When Josh Eaton, Digital Transformation Manager at Coastal and South Downs PCN, inherited a complex print setup, the problem was not simply the printers. It was the uncertainty around ownership, support and third-party IT issues. ARC helped turn that experience into a long-term managed print relationship built on transparency, responsiveness and practical knowledge of how GP practices really work.
The challenge
When Josh joined Coastal and South Downs PCN as Digital Transformation Manager, he inherited a technically complex environment covering Lime Tree Surgery and Barn Surgery in Worthing, West Sussex. His role spans IT, operations and the quiet infrastructure that keeps a large GP practice running each day across multiple sites.
Printing sat at the intersection of ARC’s hardware and a third-party IT layer. When problems emerged, the lines of responsibility could become blurred. For a non-technical practice manager or senior GP, a broken printer is just a broken printer - and blame often lands on whoever supplied it.
In most offices, printing is a cost to reduce. In a GP surgery, it is part of the care workflow. Clinicians print information for patients who are less comfortable with digital tools. Pathology forms and labels still need to be printed. Staff rotas are often easier to use on paper during a busy working day.
When print goes wrong in that environment, the effect is not just inconvenience. It creates workarounds, delays and avoidable pressure for clinical and admin teams. Josh could see that many issues were being caused by the wider IT environment, not ARC’s equipment. The question was whether ARC could still take ownership, respond well and prove they were worth a fresh start.
What ARC did
ARC reviewed the surgery’s full printer estate and proposed a more standardised, manageable setup. The team replaced the equipment that needed replacing, gave Josh clear pricing he could take to the leadership team, and supported the practice with engineers who understood the realities of primary care.
- Reviewed the full printer estate across the practice environment
- Proposed a standardised managed print setup
- Replaced equipment where needed
- Provided clear, exact pricing for leadership approval
- Supported the practice through a human, low-pressure account management process
- Brought in engineering support with direct knowledge of GP practice IT environments
- Continued helping even when issues were caused by third-party IT providers
- Replicated the onboarding process when a practice merger brought another site into scope
“Even two, three, four years down the line, they’re still as good as they were on day one. Which is so rare to find in suppliers, let alone tech suppliers today.”
Josh Eaton - Digital Transformation Manager, Coastal and South Downs PCN
“With ARC, it was different. Marek came in - very human, good interaction. We could just stand there as two people having a proper conversation. I didn’t feel pressured into buying anything. I didn’t feel like I had to meet a deadline.”
“It’s almost like ARC has a cheat sheet, a cheat book - we know exactly the problems that GP practices are having, because we have an engineer who has been on the other side.”
The outcome
Lime Tree Surgery now has a managed print partner Josh trusts to keep showing up, not just during onboarding but years into the relationship. ARC’s support is described as responsive, practical and consistent - even when a print issue is tangled up with third-party IT systems outside ARC’s direct control.
- Greater confidence that printer issues will be owned and investigated
- More transparent pricing for leadership decision-making
- Faster, more practical support when issues are logged
- Engineering support that understands how GP practices operate
- A managed print process that scaled to support an additional site after a merger
- A supplier relationship that remains consistent years after the original setup
For Josh, the difference is that ARC does not disappear after the contract is signed. The account management feels human. The engineers are helpful, polite and responsive. When a problem sits between ARC hardware and another IT provider, ARC still tries to help solve it rather than deflect responsibility.
That consistency is what has earned Josh’s loyalty. If he moved to another practice tomorrow, he says ARC would be his first recommendation for managed print - without needing to look elsewhere.
Why ARC was the right fit
ARC understood that managed print in a GP surgery is not just about devices. It is about keeping clinical and admin workflows moving, reducing uncertainty when issues arise, and giving practice leaders a partner they can trust over the long term.
