Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council has signed a contract with Capita One to improve integration between its computer systems and simplify data sharing across children’s services.
The council has purchased One's Social Care solution and as part of a wider transformation at the authority, existing youth and youth offending systems will be replaced by One's Youth solution, enabling the council to save an estimated £100,000 annually in IT maintenance and support costs.
Ian Coxon, assistant director (Business Support and Information) at Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council, says: “One of the key aims of this project is to give social workers the tools they need to access information securely on the move so they can maximise their contact time with families.
“Capita has been chosen as a strategic partner as they have the expertise to support this ambitious transformation. One Social Care will enable secure and efficient information sharing across teams working with children and help reshape our services.”
With One Social Care, practitioners using a tablet or smartphone will be able to access all the information required to assess the needs of children and their families efficiently when they are visiting a child’s home or any other location.
In a few swipes the social worker with the appropriate authorisation will be able to see all the different teams working with a child, plus up-to-date school information, such as details of their attendance and achievement. Having a more complete picture of a child’s circumstances at their fingertips, will save practitioners around 10 hours per week in administration and enable them to make better informed decisions about the support a child or family might need.