London Borough of Newham
Multi-agency information sharing and data matching issues have recently raised serious concerns throughout the public sector.
Acknowledging the importance of integrated working in order to improve outcomes for children and young people, the London Borough of Newham sought a solution to address the inefficiencies of pre-existing disparate systems.
The first step towards fully integrated working
With our help, the London Borough of Newham, achieved full integration of their children’s social care, youth justice and court systems. This joined-up approach facilitated a holistic view of each child’s record. Owing to the ultimate success of this implementation, discussions are currently in progress concerning extending deployment of the solution to further areas within the council.
The background
Three miles from the City of London, in the heart of the East End, the London Borough of Newham sits just north of the River Thames overlooking the Millennium Dome and Greenwich. The Borough supports a population of 250,600 and is one of the most culturally diverse populations in the country with a much younger age profile than the national average.
A key part of the Government’s Integrated Working Strategy and at the heart of the Every Child Matters agenda, is information sharing, currently a core issue for the Borough as it is for many other local authorities. In fact, integrated working has never been more important in local government. Therefore, with this in mind, and in response to the Government programme for a national framework to support the ‘joining up’ of children’s services, the Borough took their first step towards fully integrated working.
The challenge
Traditionally the London Borough of Newham retained data on three unconnected systems; children’s services system, supplied by OLM Group, and the youth justice system and court system supplied by Social Software. For professionals requiring access to a system that falls outside their principal area of work, user rights were issued to allow searches to be undertaken.
Principal Project Manager at the London Borough of Newham, Brian Taylor, acknowledges the inefficiency of this approach; “This method presented Newham Council with a number of difficulties. For instance, user ability varied greatly depending on familiarity with each system. Therefore it often took more time than necessary to attain relevant data. Also, due to security reasons, the majority of access was view only, meaning that records could not be updated.” Consequently it was identified that the need for improvement in this area was high priority. Newham Council realised that only through sharing information between key professionals can an authority fully support children with significant and varying needs.
In order to assist these professionals in their field of expertise, a holistic view of each child’s record detailing the full extent of the council’s involvement was necessary. Hence the council wanted to explore how services could and should integrate. At the same time consideration needed to be given to how best to deliver high quality services that meet statutory requirements within a value for money framework to reduce duplication, improve efficiency and minimise costs.
The solution
As an existing user of the CareFirst Social Care case management system, the London Borough of Newham had a well-established relationship with OLM Group. As a result of this, and appreciating the true benefits of multi-agency information sharing, the council approached OLM for professional expertise. OLM’s Integration Framework, comprising of a data matching tool and a presentation display, was selected. This solution creates locally defined views of data held in three linked databases within the Council, which makes it possible for Social Care Workers and Youth Offending Teams to view data held in each other's systems.
As the Integration Framework provides a configurable web application specifically designed for multi-agency information sharing, databases are now linked enabling users to gain all the necessary information from a single source. Furthermore the solution features a common presentation layer which captures, governs, displays and controls information flow to and from users. The complicated access rights to multiple databases that previously existed are now unnecessary.
Similarly the necessity to learn how to navigate more than one system is no longer required as Brian explains; “Integrated working focuses on enabling and encouraging professionals to work together effectively to deliver frontline services. At Newham Council decisions can now be made confidently based on accessible information from all three systems – an invaluable function.”
The benefits
OLM’s Integration Framework has facilitated the smooth transition of data between three separate systems within Newham Council whilst directly supporting the Integrated Working and Information Sharing agendas. By integrating services, children’s needs can be addressed earlier and more effectively as case workers are now able to obtain information quicker than before.
Brian explains; “Integrated working provides benefits to children, young people, and families and of course the practitioners themselves.” A valuable feature of the solution is the presentation of locally-configured views displaying data drawn from the different linked systems and presented on one screen.
This is customised and configured as required. For example, system administrators can determine what information is presented and who has access, which allows the creation of designated views to support the information needs of specific groups of practitioners.
Brian comments; “We wanted to remove the complexity from information sharing by adopting an easy-to-use solution. We recognised that practitioners need to have information on what is happening with other services. The Integrated Framework helps us achieve this by pulling together information from all the systems into one view. It extracts and displays the data that users really need to know, in real-time, which means it is secure.”
Brian continues; “Users can see real-time updated entries regarding offences, training reviews, and so on. The main benefits of this solution for Newham Council are reducing duplication, improving efficiency, and reducing costs.”
Looking forward
The adoption of a multi-agency approach will help to change the way that services in the London Borough of Newham are delivered, shifting the focus from dealing with the consequences of difficulties in children’s lives to prevention. The new solution helps to ensure that every child and young person gets the support they need to maximise their potential.
Due to the success of this implementation, the London Borough of Newham is planning to extend implementation as Brian concludes; “Our first step towards fully integrated working has been extremely valuable. Within the next few years we aim to link OLM’s Integration Framework with other systems within the council such as education to create a richer picture of each child’s record.”