|
Take steps to avoid another Victoria Climbie tragedy |
|
Electronic Social Care Records - the true meaning of care in a modern world. How efficient electronic record keeping can play a major role in supporting social services departments. If it were possible to eliminate all the cases of child abuse in the UK it would no doubt be a miracle but an excellent first step is the introduction of the electronic social care record (ESCR). This initiative from the Department of Health's Information Policy Unit will support the nationwide database being set up by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) to provide core information on children at risk. The ESCR records will provide the essential back- up to the DfES database by ensuring that the relevant authorities will have access to comprehensive, accurate and up-to-date information. It should be noted that ESCR is governed by the Data Protection Act and no information will be disclosed without prior consent, other than in extreme circumstances. Under this scheme, a vital part of the e-government agenda, local authorities are required to put all new social services clients on to an electronic information management system by October 2005. It is anticipated that some 20 per cent of councils will achieve this by October '04. The advantage of ESCR over existing systems is that the new system stores letters, assessments, hand-written notes and any information connected to the client not just contact database information held by existing systems. This comprehensive information can then be shared with other care services to create a truly joined up efficient citizen-focused service. Taking a lead is Gloucestershire County Council, one of a handful of councils in the country full prepared for digitising its social care records. Gloucestershire County is installing a corporate-wide system that will allow access to its social services records by authorised workers from some 50 offices, including Cheltenham General Hospital. Gloucestershire's far sighted view means that through its information management system it will also be able to comply with both Freedom of Information and Data Protection Acts, among others. Funding is available for the scheme through the Department of Health's capital grant for improving information management in social services but monies can also be made available through IEG (satisfies ODPM priority services criteria), ICT and capital revenue, as was the case with Gloucestershire County Council. Others, however, have managed to launch a system using only social services-dedicated funding, such as East Sussex County Council. East Sussex County Council is another authority pioneering the electronic social care record. Despite having always prided itself on its social services provision, the County was given further impetus to streamline its services by the Social Services Inspectorate's 2002 zero rating. This was the challenge for David Archibald, Director of Social Services, Cheryl Miller, Chief Executive, and Peter Manning, the e-Business Manager for Social Services to take the Department into the fast lane by introducing a completely electronic solution incorporating the back scanning of thousands of files. With responsibility for some quarter of a million cases, the Department is now one of the most progressive in the country, well on its way to fulfil its duties as part of the integrated children's system. The ESCR solution can now be accessed by staff working from 60 offices, including 10 health centres, connected by a wide area network. Funding for the electronic records management solution was provided by the Information for Social Care Grant which was also used to enable internal staff to manage the business change process and create a sustainable business case. For more information as to how you can meet your ESCR
targets, contact: Roger Staton Information Policy Unit - Social
Care Department of Health Tel: 020 7972 4469, alan.miles@gloucestershire.gov.uk,
Perter.Manning@eastsusssexcc.gov.uk
On July 1, 2003, Valid was acquired by Hummingbird Ltd. (NASDAQ: HUMC, TSX: HUM). Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, Hummingbird Ltd. is a global enterprise software company employing over 1450 people in nearly 40 offices around the world. Hummingbird Enterprise™, an integrated information and knowledge management solution suite, creates a 360º View of Enterprise Content™ to manage the lifecycle of information and knowledge assets. Today, five million users rely on Hummingbird to connect, manage, access, publish and search their enterprise content. Valid now operates as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hummingbird. For more information, please visit: http://www.hummingbird.com. While Valid products offer compliance with the UK
National Archives (Public Record Office), e-GIF and WfXML standards,
Hummingbird's Microsoft-centric and Java/J2EE-based offerings extend
the choice of platforms to customers. |