MAKING CHILDREN SAFER

The West Yorkshire Child Protection Project

IT’S ABOUT CHILDREN NOT IT

THIS PRESENTATION

• Why we chose child protection?

• What we have done so far

• How we went about it

• What we have learned so far

• What we plan to do next

WHY CHILD PROTECTION?

• …………………...1945 Dennis O’Neil,1973 Maria Colwell,1984 Jasmine Beckford, Tyra Henry and Heidi Koseda,1986 Kimberley Carlile,1987 Doreen Mason,1992 Leanne White, 1994 Rickie Neave,1999 Chelsea Brown, 2000 Victoria Climbie and Lauren Wright, 2002 Ainlee Labonte…………….

AGAIN AND AGAIN……

• Failures in communication

• Information was not brought together to form a complete picture

• Opportunities to intervene were missed

• Boundaries interrupt information flow

• Traditional electronic systems could not be joined up effectively

EHR/EPR/ERESCR

SocialServices

EducationPolice

PCT’sHospitals

SocialServicesdatabase

PatientAdminSystem

SchoolsCollegesStudent rec

CRSIncident Rec.

GPSystems

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Typical scenario – Line of business applications which do not facilitate data sharing or process collaboration across agencies

HOW WE BEGAN

• A vision of the future – “virtual teams” operating across professional, organisational and geographic boundaries

• Bringing technical expertise together with experience and understanding of the business

• Bradford area pilot proposed to develop a system for testing in live operational use

Schools

PolicePCT

Studentrecording

CRS

Child Protection

EHR/EPR/ER

PatientAdminSystem

GPSystems

ESCR

SocialServicesdatabase

SocialServices

Hospital

Multi agency CP application Enables line of business applications to share data and allows process

collaboration.

A LOCAL PARTNERSHIP

• One common system overlaying all existing systems but independent of them

• Map existing procedures and refine them by reference to operational practice

• Automated workflow process operating in real time creates the “virtual team”

• Highest levels of security and control by each agency• Prevent information getting stuck or “falling between the

cracks”

Linking organisations together

ProtocolServer

3rd Party Hosted Service

HealthHospitals

Health Visitors

Social ServicesChild Protection TeamsEmergency Duty Teams

https

EducationSchools

Social Workers

Internet

Police

NSPCC

NHSnet

A LOCAL VISION

• A teacher in a Leeds school uses the system to raise a concern about a child who is currently staying with relatives in Bradford

• A match is found to an A and E episode in a hospital in Halifax and to a previous concern in Huddersfield

• Bradford Social Services decide to refer to West Yorkshire Police and instigate a joint investigation

• All information, decisions and actions are captured in the system in real time with a full audit trail and all agency systems are updated automatically

• Everyone (with a right to know) is kept informed of progress

OUTLINE BUSINESS CASE

• Protect investment in existing systems

• Potential efficiency gains from process redesign and automation

• Economies of scale

• Improved management of risk• Transferability of learning to other areas

BUILDING THE PROTOTYPE

• Existing CP procedures used to create version 1• Iterative process of review by practitioners and

refinement of the process• “Board room pilot” of multi-agency scenarios• Data integration to Social Services core system• User testing• Security testing

POTENTIAL “SHOWSTOPPERS”

• Strategic commitment to the vision• Data security• Technical compatibility• Information sharing protocols• Practitioner resistance• How much will it cost?

WIDENING THE VISION

• Invitation to bid for National Projects funding• Opportunity to move faster and wider• Condition of acting as a mentor• Consideration of options led to an all West

Yorkshire approach• Widening the vision means raising the stakes!

(moving from 9 partners to 33)

WEST YORKSHIRE

• Population 2.1 million and rising

• 780 square miles

• Mixed urban and rural

• Pockets of affluence and deprivation

• A natural and cohesive region

• A developing regional agenda

THE PROJECT APPROACH

• Project Board chaired by the Bradford Director• Local multi-agency project boards• Agree common procedures / child protection

model / information sharing protocols• Agree technical system hosting and deployment• Manage the system implementation• Establish mechanisms for ongoing support

ACHEIVEMENTS

• Successful live Pilot operating in Bradford • Wakefield close to going live• Information sharing protocols agreed• Common child protection procedures / process

model • Interim system hosting arrangements agreed• Work commenced on a new approach to

systems integration (MIM)

PROBLEMS ON THE WAY

• Competing strategic priorities

• Tensions about who owns the business, child protection professionals or IT?

• Commercial rivalry between IT suppliers

• Reluctance to step outside safe organisational boundaries

• Uncertainty about long term costs

TRUE FOR ANY PROJECT

• Strategic sign up

• Project management methodology

• IT system lifecycle discipline

• Practitioner involvement

• Communication strategy

• Change management

WHAT WE’VE LEARNED• Keep the vision in view at all times• Effective multi-agency working means “thinking

whole systems”• Who owns the business? Strategic managers,

frontline professionals, IT departments or software suppliers?

• If you start a journey into uncharted territory you can expect to encounter unforeseen problems but you will also discover new opportunities

BENEFITS REALISATION• Practitioner adoption “a tool to do the job”• An evolving business case that capitalises upon

economies of scale and efficiency gains through process automation and redesign

• Improved risk management• Experience, technology and infrastructure

transferable to other business areas• Improved protection of vulnerable children

THE FUTURE

• Strategic commitment from all partners to complete the implementation across the region

• Potential for 4000+ users• More work needed to prove the operational

business case• More work to evaluate new approaches to

systems integration• Continue to share our experience

QUESTIONS AND DISCUSSION