NHS and social care organisations in Cheshire have
chosen IBM and web-based information management firm Esprit to
build a computer system to help 1,000 staff assess the needs of
vulnerable elderly people.
Cheshire County Council and four local NHS primary care trusts
have joined together to procure the system to carry out a single
assessment process – a requirement of the government’s national
service framework for older people.
Alan Allman, senior IT manager at Cheshire County Council, said:
“The single assessment process solution implemented by IBM will
have a positive impact on older people in Cheshire by standardising
assessments across health and social care. It will provide
consistency in recording and allow information to be shared
electronically across Cheshire agencies.”
The Cheshire system will be based on the Minimum Data Set
(MDS-HC) protocol from interRAI, an internationally developed tool
for needs assessment accredited by the Department of Health.
The web-based system provides decision support by automatically
highlighting areas of concern and enables the creation of the care
plan for each elderly person assessed.
The system will support mobile working with digital pens,
notebooks and tablet PCs and will allow information to be shared
between agencies securely. It will also generate information to
guide resource allocation and service planning.