Social Workers Welcome Mobile Solution

The advantages of mobile working are increasingly being recognised across the public sector. With such a diverse and dispersed range of clients, sites and services, there are significant gains for local authorities that adopt mobile computing solutions. North Lanarkshire Council is widely regarded as a pioneering local authority, where modernisation of Council services is high on the agenda.

One area that has been the focus of attention is the use of mobile technologies to support the work of social workers within adult services. This project has proved such an unrivalled success that it has received several public sector awards.

Background

North Lanarkshire Council, was formed in 1996, and is one of 32 councils in Scotland. Its population of 323,780 places North Lanarkshire Council as the fourth largest unitary authority in Scotland. As a forward thinking local authority, the Council began to consider how mobile technologies could be applied across different areas.

The Council identified a need to streamline the practice of its social care workforce in terms of Single Shared Assessments (SSA), and needed to find a more efficient way to deliver the service. The SSA process is highly complex and demands a significant investment of time. In the past the process was heavily paper-based and required staff to document information while in the service users’ home. They would then be required to return to the office and enter the information into the Social Work system mySWIS. This paper based process required multiple visits to the office to obtain service users’ details and file assessments, resulting in additional travel and a lot of re-work to update information in mySWIS.

Challenge

The challenge was to update mySWIS either at point of contact or as soon after the assessment has been completed, whilst allowing the assessor to perform the assessment in the same manner as they had previously done. The flexibility of the chosen solution was crucial. Dave Ashcroft, Project Manager EGASD at North Lanarkshire Council comments: “We needed a solution that was not intrusive to the social carers; one that would enable them to follow the same process, but effectively allow faster completion.”

The key requirements were to create an improved service for service users. The new system being implemented needed to update information quickly, securely and accurately and operate both online and offline. Any move to an ‘electronic’ solution should have a similar look and feel to the mySWIS system already in place, thus eliminating the need for significant training. The system also needed to provide flexibility in call scheduling whilst minimising office administration. The ultimate aim was to help social care workers spend more time with the service users, and complete a greater number of assessments which were correct first time; both of which are vital steps towards modernising the entire SSA process.

Solution

Underpinned by Integral mForms®, the mobile technology solution put in place allows full SSAs to be completed by staff at the Council, and partner agencies (including the NHS), whilst in the service users’ home or hospital ward.

This cutting-edge real time mobile technology allows information gathered during the assessment to be sent, at the touch of a button, directly into the office-based centre, allowing the assessment to enter the system for immediate action. As a future-proof solution it provides North Lanarkshire Council with full control and ownership of the solution with low total cost of ownership (TCO).

There are now 60 tablet PCs across adult social care within North Lanarkshire Council that use Integral mForms® and, over time, this figure will increase.

Benefits

Integral mForms® has played a key role in improving care services within North Lanarkshire Council. For instance, the old system was heavily paper based, it offered little flexibility in terms of call and visit scheduling, and required staff to spend a significant amount of time in the office which saw delays in updating assessment information. Now the amount of time that social care workers spend in the office has been reduced. Previously the assessor would visit the office to print base assessment forms for all service user visits, travel to the service user’s home, carry out the assessment and record it on paper. On occasions this could involve 20 sheets of paper.

The new mobile assessment process involves the assessor travelling to the service user’s home, completing the assessment and recording information on a tablet PC. The assessor synchronises the assessment with mySWIS at the touch of a button and then travels to next service user’s home. “It has really made a difference and has resulted in a positive change to the way SSAs are undertaken,“ explains Dave.

The time savings have enabled the provision of homecare services to be initiated at shorter intervals, while increasing the time front-line staff are able to spend with the service users. There has also been a decrease in the assessment waiting time.

Dave adds: “Being able to use the tablet anywhere in the community or hospital enables our team to be more flexible and efficient, cutting down the workload on return to the office, as we can do it at point of contact. It improves home management and allows us to respond more quickly.”

The accuracy, speed and security of information has improved. In turn this has led to improvements in the quality and speed of information that is shared between partner agencies.

Looking Forward

Integral mForms® has transformed the performance of adult social care in North Lanarkshire Council, and has successfully demonstrated the benefits of mobile technology. There are plenty of opportunities for expansion of mobile technologies within North Lanarkshire Council.

Sandy Neil explains: “We are looking to expand implementation of Integral mForms® across different core groups within the Council, for instance, children’s services. We expect a rapid growth in mobile technologies within North Lanarkshire Council in the next six to twelve months.” The innovative application of Integral mForms® has helped North Lanarkshire Council deliver best-value public services.

Sandy continues: “We have a truly unique offering, and are delivering real business benefits. There is great potential to roll this solution out to other partners and local authorities across Scotland.” North Lanarkshire Council is working towards a major five-year change management programme: Service and People First, which supports and drives its aim to continuously improve the quality of its services.

“This project is an excellent example of North Lanarkshire Council placing service users at the heart of our service delivery, and the Hytec team has played a key part in this strategy. We are at the forefront of service delivery in this area and are taking this technology further than anyone else,” concludes Dave.