Systems integration

First steps towards fully integrated working in the London Borough of Newham

Multi-agency information sharing and data matching issues have recently raised serious concerns throughout the public sector. Acknowledging the importance of integrated working in improving outcomes for children and young people, the London Borough of Newham sought a solution to address the inefficiencies of pre-existing disparate systems. Principal Project Manager at the London Borough of Newham, Brian Taylor explains.

March 2008

A key part of the Government’s Integrated Working Strategy and at the heart of the Every Child Matters agenda, is information sharing, which is currently a core issue for the London Borough of Newham, as it is for many local authorities.

Integrated working focuses on enabling and encouraging professionals to work effectively together to deliver frontline services. It is achieved through collaboration and coordination at every level, across all services within a local authority. As such, it requires clear and ongoing leadership and management. At an operational level, it is facilitated by the adoption of common service-delivery models, tools and processes. These integrated processes drive multi-agency working, and support the delivery of integrated frontline services.

Multi-agency working is, of course, concerned with bringing services together in order to prevent problems from occurring. It supports children and families with additional needs and helps to secure real improvements in their life outcomes.

Better information sharing between professionals is vital and underpins all integrated processes. Practitioners who work with children and young people must understand when, why and how they should share information. Local authorities are undertaking extensive reconfiguration of services, to offer earlier, more coherent support to meet the needs of children and families. Therefore, with this in mind, and in response to the Government’s programme for a national framework to support the ‘joining up’ of children’s services, the London Borough of Newham took its first step towards fully integrated working.

Re-configuring services

Traditionally, we retained data on three unconnected systems: children’s services system, supplied by OLM Group, and the youth justice system and court system supplied by Social Software. For professionals requiring access to one of the systems that falls outside their principal area of work, user rights were issued to allow searches to be undertaken.

At the London Borough of Newham, we recognised the inefficiency of this approach. It presented a number of difficulties: for instance, user ability varied greatly depending on familiarity with each system. Therefore it often took more time than necessary to attain relevant data. Also, due to security reasons, the majority of access was view only, meaning that records could not be updated.

Consequently it was identified that the need for improvement in this area was a high priority. We realised that only through sharing information between key professionals could the London Borough of Newham fully support children with significant and varying needs.

In order to assist professionals in their field of expertise, a holistic view of each child’s record detailing the full extent of the council’s involvement was necessary. Hence we explored how services could and should be integrated. At the same time we considered the best way to deliver high quality services to meet statutory requirements within a value-for-money framework to reduce duplication, improve efficiency and minimise costs.

Our solution

OLM Group’s Integration Framework, comprising a data-matching tool and a presentation display, was selected. This solution creates locally defined views of data held in three linked databases within the Council, which makes it possible for social care workers and youth offending teams to view data held in each other's systems. 

As the Integration Framework provides a configurable web application specifically designed for multi-agency information sharing, databases are now linked, enabling users to gain all the necessary information from a single source.  Furthermore the solution features a common presentation layer which captures, governs, displays and controls information flow to and from users.

The complicated access rights to multiple databases that previously existed are now unnecessary. Similarly the necessity to learn how to navigate more than one system is no longer required. Now integrated working focuses on enabling and encouraging professionals to work together effectively to deliver frontline services. Within our local authority decisions are now made confidently based on accessible information from all three systems — an invaluable function.

Securing the benefits

The Integration Framework facilitates the smooth transition of data between three separate systems within the council whilst directly supporting the Integrated Working and Information Sharing agendas.

Integrated working provides benefits to children, young people, and families and of course the practitioners themselves. By integrating services, children’s needs are addressed earlier and more effectively as case workers are now able to obtain information quicker than before.

A valuable feature of the solution is the presentation of locally configured views displaying data drawn from the different systems and presented on one screen. This is customised and configured as required. For example, system administrators can determine what information is presented and who has access, which allows the creation of designated views to support the information needs of specific groups of practitioners.

Ease of use

We wanted to remove the complexity from information sharing by adopting an easy-to-use solution. It is essential that our practitioners have access to information on what is happening with other services. The Integrated Framework helps us achieve this by pulling together information from all the systems into one view. It extracts and displays data that users really need to know, in real-time, which means it is secure.

Users can see real-time updated entries regarding offences, training reviews, and so on. The main benefits of this solution for the London Borough of Newham are reducing duplication, improving efficiency, and reducing costs.

The adoption of a multi-agency approach helps change the way that services in the London Borough of Newham are delivered, shifting the focus from dealing with the consequences of difficulties in children’s lives to prevention. The new solution helps ensure that every child and young person receives the support needed to maximise their potential.

Forward thinking

Our first step towards fully integrated working has been extremely valuable. In conjunction with OLM Group, the London Borough of Newham, achieved full integration of our children’s social care, youth justice and court systems. This joined-up approach facilitated a holistic view of each child’s record. Owing to the ultimate success of this implementation, discussions are currently in progress concerning extending deployment of the solution to further areas within the council.

Within the next few years we aim to link the Integration Framework with other systems within the council, such as education, to create a richer picture of each child’s record.

Improving outcomes for children and young people involves changes to culture and practice across the children's workforce, something that the London Borough of Newham has successfully achieved.

Brian Taylor  
 

To top^