ContactPoint

The aim of ContactPoint (previously knowsn as the Information Sharing Index) is to ensure that every child at risk will be identified, referred to appropriate preventive services and that their progress will be tracked to ensure that they do not subsequently fall through the net. Care needs to be delivered where the child is located and therefore we envisage a system of different layers that can be accessed using a variety of access methods such as mobile, PDA and web.

Several projects highlight our implementation in key areas needed for ContactPoint delivering active multi-agency working in the field of Intermediate Care joining together relevant data from numerous distributed databases. Pre-populated forms, which allow rapid communication of information to relevant agencies and an alerting function that flags information across the different agencies’ processing systems were included. Essential in the design and delivery of our solutions is compliance with the Data Protection Act and Caldicott requirements.

In addition an ‘accountable decision tracking’ solution which integrates the official decision-making processes makes all the actions visible across the various processes, showing who is involved and who an action is with at any point, automatically repurposes the data to make it relevant to different audiences and delivers effective procedures for scrutiny management.

In support of the requirements of social services departments, our solution will act at a corporate level, linking to partners within their authority and beyond. We also support the Government’s e-GIF set of standards that define the language that applications should use to exchange information. This includes XML which allows documents to contain data that describes itself to the computer programs that access it, a vital step forward in letting many solutions, often from different vendors, interact with one another.

For more information please visit the Every Child Matters Website.

http://www.everychildmatters.gov.uk/deliveringservices/contactpoint/about/