The introduction of a mobile electronic Single Assessment Process solution has cut the time social workers in St Helens spend on form-filling by 50%, according to suppliers Liquidlogic.
Liquidlogic’s PROTOCOL eSAP solution has been rolled out to social workers in St Helens Adult Social Care and Health Department since June 2008. Its ‘briefcase functionality’ enables social workers to input information in clients’ homes.
The eSAP solution was initially rolled out to 180 practitioners responsible for the care of over 65s in the borough. It has now been extended to the remaining 120 social workers in the adult department.
Linda Thorley, St Helens’ eSAP project manager, said the mobile working solution had proved popular with social workers.
She added: “New mobile working practices have enabled practitioners to undertake online assessments in half the time that they did before and has given them the opportunity to spend more quality time with clients – something every social care provider wants to prioritise.”
Liquidlogic said the adult social care department bought 260 laptops and docking stations in 2004, so only a few replacement laptops were needed to support the first two stages of the eSAP project.
This is now being further extended to 600 additional users from NHS Halton and St Helens.
The primary care trust plans to experiment with laptops and tablet PCs to see which mobile device would best serve health care workers. The roll-out is expected to be complete by 2010.
Denise Harrison, Liquidlogic’s sale and marketing director, said St Helens was leading the way with better working practices that enhance efficiencies and multi-agency collaboration.
She added: “Liquidlogic’s Briefcase software is encrypted to high security standards and meets stringent data protection requirements.
"We are delighted that it is increasingly becoming adopted by local authorities across the UK to support their joint working with health colleagues and partner agencies in the third sector.”
Link: Liquidlogic