 |
|
| CURRENT SECTION :: News | UK's most visited IT Contractor Site - 250k unique visitors March 2008 |
|
 |
A £30million government computer system designed to improve the handling of child abuse cases may have compromised efforts to save the life of Baby P. Launched after the death of Victoria Climbié in 2005, the Integrated Children’s System was hailed as a time-saving, data-sharing tool to record social workers’ performance. But Prof Sue White, who is studying ICS at five councils in England and Wales, of Lancaster University says officials’ view of the system “is at odds” with her evidence. Warning its forms and workflows are “onerous”, she explained the system is forcing social workers to spend up to 80% of their time glued to their computer screens. A separate, state-commissioned study adds it takes about 10hours to complete initial forms for a child to be filed as at risk, and a further 48hours for a core assessment. Writing in The Guardian, Prof White warned that the demands of the system make it harder for carers to meet their targets, and cut into the time they have to make visits. “Workers report being more worried about missed deadlines than missed visits,” she wrote in her comment ‘Computers can hinder child protection.’ “Social workers are acutely concerned with performance targets, such as moving the cases flashing in red on their screens into the next phase of the workflow within the timescale.” In some of the busiest teams, she noted referrals to specific cases were often logged as “malicious” or “suspect”, if they were made from sources like neighbours and even family members. In the case of 17-month-old Baby P, who died from more than 50 injuries despite being under a child protection order, she said concerns raised by his father were “arguably not treated with sufficient weight.” “These ‘shortcuts’ are not a product of laziness or sloppiness, but rather are an indication of teams struggling against deadline pressure,” Prof White reflected. “One assumes that Baby P's records in ICS were complete and up-to-date, but the complex sense-making that may have saved him could have been compromised as a result.” Haringey council has since issued an unreserved apology “for the events which led up” to Baby P’s death, and faces two government inquiries. New laws have also been unveiled for better childcare protection. To improve the mechanism that monitors social workers and their caseloads, any IT system needs to be built on a “thorough understanding of the needs of users and their working practices.” Like the state-backed study, Prof White added that her findings question whether the IT system for social workers’ cases “may actually have compromised the conditions in which good practice can flourish.” Nov 20, 2008 Email this article Printer friendly page Previous Page
|
|
  |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
| All content © Contractor UK Limited | http://www.contractoruk.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1[Register for News Letter] | [Privacy Statement] | [Terms of Use] | [Top of Page] |