North Yorkshire County Council has implemented an
electronic planning and case management system enabling social
workers to spend less time on paperwork.
The
Integrated Children's System will improve efficiency in the
social services department and enable the council to fulfil
government requirements under the Every Child Matters
programme.
The Liquidlogic system allows social workers to enter details on
cases electronically, instead of writing everything out by hand as
they currently do.
It means information on each child or family will be saved on a
single file, meaning reviewing cases when they are updated is
easier.
Fran Senior, ICS project manager, said it would reduce the
amount of time spent on paperwork, and force social workers into
good practice.
She said, "As practitioners get used to the system they might
think it is slower. But it forces them into good practice. And in
the long term it will save them an awful lot of time. Because of
this it will eventually improve outcomes for children."
She said the system meant details could be copied between files,
so, for example, a case will not have to be written out three times
for three siblings.
Managers will also have access to real time information about
the progress and performance of both the department and individual
staff.
Senior said, "All local authorities have to provide reports on
their performance. At the moment performance levels are calculated
after the event. Now managers can measure this in real time, and
can see exactly what is going on as it happens.
"It also means they can supervise staff more easily, see if they
are struggling with something or not making deadlines. It will
definitely improve quality."
The system will also improve communication across the
geographically large county, meaning there will be a consistent
approach to good practice.
It has capabilities to be linked to other agencies and other
councils in the future, Senior said.