Collaborative software specialist, Liquidlogic, has been awarded a contract to implement a new integrated case management system for adults and children’s social services at Slough Borough Council.
The new system will upgrade the council’s existing social care IT system, providing them with a single integrated system linking all current social services notes, including those on East Berkshire’s existing electronic Single Assessment Process (eSAP) system and electronic Common Assessment Framework (eCAF) system.
This will enable the ‘seamless’ sharing of information between care practitioners across the three local authorities and the health community, within East Berkshire.
Slough Borough Council’s deputy chief executive and strategic director for community and cultural services, Dawn Warwick, told E-Health Insider Primary Care: “The current council system has been in place since Slough was a part of Berkshire County Council and despite several upgrades our client information system does not meet with the requirements of the Department of Health for integrated health and social care management and treatment.
“The seamless linkage to multi-agency solutions like eSAP and eCAF will be a huge step forward, along with the degree of financial control that the integrated system promises.”
The system developed by Liquidlogic includes specialist finance software from Oxford Computer Consultants, allowing practitioners to not only have a clear view of a patient’s case history, but also see the financial implications of the care provided.
Warwick told EHIPC that there were three main reasons for the council upgrading its existing system:
• To ensure that information can be shared between health and social care partners in relation to the care and treatment of vulnerable people;
• To reduce staff time by 20 to 30% spent on paperwork by taking advantage of electronic care management and assessment systems;
• To ensure that information collected through electronic assessment and care management systems can be easily collated for planning and development purposes, ensuring that resources are deployed most effectively to meet the most pressing needs of vulnerable people in Slough.
The system has been developed to meet Department for Education and Skills guidelines on systems for social services. These say that authorities must have an IT-based solution that supports practice and case record keeping from case referral to case closure.
Warwick added: “The new system will mean that all major health and social care agencies will be able to have access to health and social care needs information collected from patients by GPs, hospital staff, district nurses or social care staff and will therefore be able to plan care and treatment to vulnerable people with access to all the relevant information available.”
The system will also help to ensure that patients and carers should not have to give the same information regarding their needs repeatedly to different agencies.
“Carers will be more reassured that all agencies providing care to their relatives will have most up to date information regarding health and social care needs, thereby providing a more integrated and joined up package of care,” Warwick said.
Liquidlogic’s head of business development, David Grigsby said: “By embarking on a project that will see the implementation of an Integrated Children’s System (ICS) and an Integrated Adults System (IAS), which will follow local processes and allow multi-agency working, Slough Borough Council is taking a joined-up approach to providing vulnerable people with access to the most appropriate level of care.
“Enabling practitioners to seamlessly share information will decrease the likelihood any individual in the system getting lost, should they move within East Berkshire. This composite picture will be invaluable in ensuring those people at risk remain visible and receive the correct services and care.”
Slough Borough Council and Liquidlogic are currently involved in the planning and implementation stage for the whole system which, following testing and other development related activities, both phases will be fully operational in April.