Case study: better use of NHS resources

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Health and social care staff need to share information to help them provide better care and earlier interventions for children who are considered vulnerable and at risk.

There are 152 local authorities and more than 1,200 unscheduled healthcare settings in England (such as emergency departments, walk-in centres, and maternity units) using more than 75 different computer systems.

The Child Protection - Information Sharing project (CP-IS) is connecting these systems and helping sites to improve business processes so essential information can be shared securely.

West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust provides acute healthcare services to a population of approximately half a million people. The trust went live with CP-IS in March 2015.

Michelle Mulvaney, the trust's Named Nurse for Safeguarding Children, tells us how CP-IS is saving staff time and leading to better use of NHS resources at Watford General Hospital;

"We have found CP-IS really helpful in cases where we have had to piece together information to give us a complete picture, and a better understanding of a child's situation.

"We had an unusual case where a group of young children, all assumed to be less than 10 years of age, were brought into the emergency department by the police. The police had been contacted as it was suspected that the children were alone in a property and without adult supervision. The children arrived displaying signs of neglect. The police were only able to provide details for one of the children. We did a CP-IS check and we were alerted that this child had a child protection plan in place.

"Using the contact details for the local authority responsible, the staff member was able to speak with the social worker without delay. The hospital staff also followed statutory safeguarding processes and made a safeguarding referral for all of the children. This early contact meant that the social care team were able to quickly secure emergency accommodation in foster care for these children.

"The immediacy of CP-IS and the social worker's ability to make a measured but rapid safeguarding decision, reduced the necessity for hospital admission. This prevented an admission as a place of safety, occupying beds on the children's ward and utilising higher levels of professional resource that they did not require."

"We have found CP-IS really helpful in cases where we've had to piece together information in order to give us a complete picture, and a better understanding, of a child's situation."
Michelle Mulvaney,
Named Nurse for Safeguarding Children, West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust

• Having access to CP-IS information promotes the duty of care and is paramount to the child's safety and wellbeing.
• CP-IS enables information sharing and generates conversations between professionals to enhance safeguarding, and in this case supported the appropriate use of the resources available.

CP-IS is currently being introduced to local authorities and unscheduled healthcare settings across England.

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