Child Protection – Information Sharing (CP-IS)Penny Coulthard, Programme Head, NHS Digital

Helping health and social care staff to

share information and better protect

society’s most vulnerable children

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What is CP-IS?

• Connects IT systems

• Enables information sharing between children’s social

care and unscheduled healthcare settings

• Alerts healthcare staff to CPP/LAC/UCPP

• Provides contact details for social care team

• Notifies social care team of presentation

• Provides history to help identify neglect and abuse

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1. Local authority records CPP/LAC/UCPP information locally within social care system

including NHS Number

2. CPP/LAC/UCPP information is automatically submitted to CP-IS daily

Children’s services

system

CP-IS Clinical

System

Access History

Uploads

Query

Query responseSocial worker

Healthcare worker

3. NHS user searches for child details in clinical system

4. NHS system queries CP-IS and notifies user of CP-IS record for that child

5. Access History Notification is created when NHS user accesses CP-IS information

and this triggers a message back to the local authority system

How does CP-IS work?

What are the benefits?

• Improved communication and information

sharing

• National system protects children out of area

• Improved data quality, accuracy, efficiency

and security

• Releases time/resource to be used

elsewhere

• Ability to identify patterns / behaviours

• Better joined up care

• Better protection for most vulnerable

What’s involved in implementing CP-IS?

• Project team

• Project governance

• Technical

• Business change

• Information governance

• Communication, engagement and training

Size of the challenge

152Local

authorities

1200+Healthcare

settings 65+Healthcare

systems

suppliers

12Local authority

system

suppliers

What is the current position?

• 51 live local authorities (34%)

• 50 live healthcare organisations

(18%)

• 159 live unscheduled settings

(13%)

• 62,760 unique children

• 67,945 total plans

(Data at 08/05/2017)

What do staff think of CP-IS?

Hertfordshire County Council

“CP-IS removes the need to search for

and provide information manually and by

phone, freeing up our resources to apply

elsewhere.”

London Borough of Hackney

“The CP-IS automated notification was the

only way the social worker would have

found out about the incident.”

Portsmouth Hospital

NHS Trust

“CP-IS is key to us

taking a child-centred

approach and ensuring

they receive the best

possible care and

protection wherever

they are in the

country.”

Julie ParkerHead of Safeguarding / Designated Nurse Safeguarding Children

NHS Stockport CCG

Setting up in Stockport

• Stockport local authority live in July 2015

• Emergency Department at Stockport NHS Foundation

Trust live in October 2015

• Evaluation

• Paediatric assessment unit expected in late 2017

• Midwifery assessment unit expected in late 2017

Implementation approach

• First wave of pathfinder sites

• Local authority driver locally

• Support from Director of Nursing

• Evaluating effect on safeguarding of automatic

information sharing

• Support from NHS Digital team

Audit with children’s social care

• Are you familiar with the system?

• Do you know what is expected of you?

• What do you routinely do when you see a notification

on the system?

• Do you make enquiries about attendance and whether

this has led to further intervention?

• Do you need further information about the process?

Building stronger relationships with local authorities

Staff have a better understanding of assessing the child's needs

Better information sharing - voice of the child

Quick easy access - more information about children at the frontline

Building confidence in clinicians asking the right questions

Greater awareness of complex needs and support for Looked After Children

What benefits have we seen?

• 2 year old subject to CP plan

attended ED after a fall (not deemed

NAI)

• CP-IS notification automatically sent

to the local authority social care

team

• A nursery teacher rang the social

worker the following day to inform re

the child’s ED attendance

• Social worker could say she had

been notified re the attendance

• Clear evidence of timely information

triangulation

• Looked After Child attended ED

with pelvic pain

• Attended with a male whose name

was not offered

• ED were alerted that child was

Looked After by the CP-IS look up

• Referred to the allocated social

worker immediately

• Vulnerable child at risk of being

exploited was visible and appropriate

support could be assigned

Case studies

Support from NHS Digital

• Detailed implementation guidance and materials

• Team of regional CP-IS implementation managers

• Face-to-face, email and telephone support

• Quarterly newsletter

• Implementation Forum

• Funding

• Get in touch!

www.digital.nhs.uk

@nhsdigital

enquiries@nhsdigital.nhs.uk

0300 303 5678

www.digital.nhs.uk/cpis