Esprit

Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service short listed for 2009 e-Government National Awards

The finalists for the 2009 e-Government National Awards were announced in November with the Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service selected as one of the finalists in the ‘Innovation in strategy at a local level’ category.

The e-Government National Awards recognise excellence across eleven categories and highlight public sector innovation in using technology to enable businesses and citizens to better communicate with councils, central government, NHS and other public sector organisations.

Cheshire Fire and Rescue were nominated for their ‘SpringBoard’ campaign (Starting Proactive Response, Introducing New Gains, Benefiting Older-people and Reducing Dependency). The campaig allows potentially vulnerable or at risk adults, identified by the Fire and Rescue Service while undertaking Home Safety Assessments, along with relevant data collected during their assessment, to be seamlessly linked with local health and social care processes through the multi-agency ShareCare: Adult system.

The SpringBoard service was short-listed for having delivered ‘improved services, transformed processes & results, increased effectiveness’.

The final award will be made in January 2010.

Major upgrade to ShareCare: Adult supports service extensions in Cheshire.

Long term SAP user Cheshire County Council has recently upgraded to the new ShareCare: Adult system and extended the focus of the system to cover all Adults (i.e. from 18 years old) in the region.

From April 2009 the ShareCare: Adult system will support coordinated assessment and integrated services across two new Local Authorities and all of their local Health Service PCT and Acute Trust partners. In Summer 2009 ShareCare services will be further extended to include additional Third Sector partners i.e. the Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service and Age Concern.

The new ShareCare: Adult system introduces a range of new features and improved functionality for Cheshire service users including better team and multi-agency group working; extended consent management and information governance controls; and improved navigation and transferring of information across assessment forms. A much wider set of assessment forms has also been delivered. 

This is the first phase of a series of improvements and enhancement that Cheshire has planned.  Improved mobile working using the new ShareCare mobile working functionality, a more extensive set of management information reports and integration with the NHS Personal Demographic Service across the NHS Sine will also be implemented in 2009. 

ShareCare Integration Hub provides seamless assessment exchange for South West Peninsula

The challenge for the South West Peninsula was to deliver coordinated assessments and integrated health and social care services across four local authority areas (Devon County Council, Cornwall County Council, Plymouth City Council and Torbay Council) and all of their local Health Service PCT and Acute Trust partners.

The partnership contracted with Esprit to use the ShareCare: Adult system to support coordinated adult service provision across the region. The ShareCare: Adult system supports the South West Peninsula’s comprehensive, coordinated assessment strategy in two ways. Local social care and health care practitioners can directly access the ShareCare system to view and collaborate on client assessments. Alternatively, practitioners can use their own local systems to request relevant client assessment information through integration with the ShareCare system.

When a local practitioner searches for assessment information the ShareCare Integration Hub automatically collects and collates relevant assessment information from different partner systems and presents these to the user in a single, seamless, view i.e. as if the assessment information had been created and stored within the ShareCare system itself. The ShareCare Integration Hub manages this data collection and integration process on behalf of the SWP partnership and offers the same comprehensive view of client assessment information irrespective of whether the user accesses the system direct, or via another subscribing (i.e. integrated) local social care, or health care, or mental health system.

The first local service to be integrated through the ShareCare Integration Hub is Devon County Council’s OLM ‘CareFirst’ social care system.  Further social care, health care and mental health systems will be similar integrated into the service in 2009.