Technology is a key enabler of change but without an equivalent transformation, when it comes to service redevelopment, you can fall flat. This is something that Westminster City Council can proudly say, has not happened. A recent Ofsted report has provided glowing reviews of a service that has been carefully crafted to put children and young people first.
Earlier this month, the Department for Education published its annual snapshot of statistics about Education, Health and Care Plans in England. These are primarily based on information collected in 2019, as the data was collected at the start of the year. They, therefore, paint a pre-Covid-19 picture as to the state of Education Health and Care Plans in England.
Social care is a frontline service that when researched, can trace its origins back hundreds of years. These go back to reforms designed to make life easier for those in the poorer parts of society. In its modern incarnation, it can trace its origins back to after the second world war, the 1948 National Assistance Act and the birth of the welfare state.
Fast forward more than 70 years...
Volunteering has been a word in common usage for hundreds of years. It is synonymous with acts of giving that are not limited to charity. Volunteer firefighters have been in common use in America since 1736 and now make up more than 70% of all firefighters in the country. At a time of crisis, they can make the difference between saving lives and disaster.
Covid-19 arrived on our shores this year to fundamentally alter the way in which we live. As a global society, we have been required to adapt our lives in order to give frontline practitioners the best possible chance to beat this virus. By staying home we can protect those who are most vulnerable and ensure that resources are utilised where they need to be. To aid in this endeavour, we have moved work into the home where possible and as an organisation, we have adapted.
OLM has launched ECLIPSE Lite, a bespoke software solution, available free of charge to local authorities. It is designed specifically to coordinate the responses of each Community Hub across the United Kingdom, to ensure that multiple organisations can effectively coordinate their approaches to the current pandemic.
A big thank you to our colleagues at our sister organisation CareKnowledge for allowing us to reproduce and share their content on the Coronavirus Act 2020. CareKnowledge publishes professional development, research and policy information for the social care sector. The emergency legislation gives the Government the powers it believes it needs to take forward its plans for dealing with the COVID-19 crisis. The Briefing focuses, in particular, on the aspects of the Act that have a direct impact on social care services.
Covid-19 is here and it is putting a huge strain on the health and social care system, in not only the United Kingdom but the world is a whole. It is an unprecedented situation and one in which we, as a collective applaud those on the frontline and pray for a swift end to the number of infections. We are in a battle and one in which we rely on each other to keep services going to support health and social care staff on the frontline.
Dear Customers
As the Coronavirus situation continues to evolve, our thoughts go out to all who have been impacted or infected. I wish a speedy recovery to all those who are ill and to those whose loved ones are battling this virus. We are proud of all the health practitioners, care and social workers that are continuing their essential work under immense pressure. I want to express admiration and gratitude to you all on the front line, keeping our country going.
We don’t believe that social workers should be celebrated on a particular day of the year. They provide a frontline service and deserve to be celebrated every day of the year, much like all of the other public services such as the NHS, Fire Brigade, Police and even teaching. All of these services work under enormous pressure and deserve our utmost respect. This is especially true at this point in time with the unprecedented challenge that COV-19 poses to the world.
We have worked tirelessly to ensure that ECLIPSE makes life easier and a key part of that is reducing the burden and cost of upgrades for our customers. Over the last couple of years we have seamlessly delivered hundreds of upgrades, ensuring our users always benefit from the latest software and the solution is always secure.
Let’s not lose sight of the fact that social care is on the brink of collapse and no short term funding will fix the situation; a typically risk-averse sector needs to recognise that sticking plasters are not enough. The good news is that the sector has begun to recognise this, even if the government has not and Local Authorities are taking practical steps to innovate.
Change is inevitable in life and the same is now true for the Cyber Essentials scheme and the accreditation that sits behind it.
Social work is a rewarding career, but at the current time of writing, Valentine’s Day, it is also a stressful one. Whether it is caseloads that would break the back of even the hardiest of Donkeys or it is suffering from abuse, regardless of which, something needs to be done.
Earlier this month we looked at the ‘Radical Approach’ for social care that was unveiled at the end of last year and discussed at a webinar in January. We analysed the plans and sought to look at them with a dispassionate eye, as with something that describes itself as radical, you want proof. Something that is intensified given our desire to make a difference to the sector and quest to ensure that any new ideas are thought out and will actually make a change.
Change is needed within social care, with new models constantly emerging in the search for this change. One of these models for children’s social care has received the attention of The Social Care Institute of Excellence (SCIE). They have highlighted one model as ‘A radical new approach to children’s social care’ based on the Buurtzorg model.
Across England and Wales, one in five adults has suffered some form of child abuse. This equates to millions of us who have suffered through a safeguarding failure. It is a staggering statistic and one that was revealed in January via the Guardian*. The headline grabbed our attention for the staggering facts and figures behind it.
If we could predict the future then we would be rich. We can’t but what we can do is use our near 30 years of experience in the fields of Health and Social Care to make predictions. Our experience qualifies us to share our thoughts on what the Health and Social Care trends of 2020 will potentially look like.
2020, the year of Brexit, additional funding for the NHS, the continuation of the reign of Boris Johnson and the chance to make a change. How far you cast the net of change will depend on the political goals of the Conservative party. Whilst we hope that the needs of those who need care will be prioritised, we wonder how far this will be extended. With delays leading into the years for those seeking assistance for their children, we look into the government published report on the state of SEND.
Friday 13th rung eerily true for Jeremy Corbyn, seeing Labour lose 59 seats and handing the Conservatives its largest majority since Margaret Thatcher won a third term in 1987. A happy Christmas for Labour and Mr Corbyn this will not be. Following on from the declaration of results the Prime Minister, Mr Johnson has promised to get Brexit done and repay the faith that voters have shown him.
Built alongside practitioners is what we tell prospective customers and it is true. As an organisation, we are beholden to no shareholders and free to design software and services that work alongside the user. We created our ECLIPSE Software and Services Platform to make a difference and designed it with end-users.
Learning Disability Today (LDT) is dedicated to sharing the latest news and developments that occur within the realm of learning disabilities. It provides up-to-date learnings and keeps you informed with news, views and opinions via events such as the upcoming Learning Disability Today Conference in London, which is taking place today.
The London Borough of Enfield is live with ECLIPSE Case Management to support it's adult’s services. With this launch, the London Borough of Enfield has joined a growing customer base that has invested in next-generation software to support service transformation.
The annual National Children and Adults Social Care Conference (NCASc) is a key event in the calendar. It is an opportunity for OLM to meet like-minded colleagues in the run-up to Christmas to discuss the key social care issues of the day. Set in the picturesque backdrop that is Bournemouth, this year’s conference has been well attended despite the upcoming election.
As we walk gleefully along the road to Christmas, there is one more hurdle that we need to vault before we get to see jolly old St. Nick. It feels as though whoever wins the upcoming election, the British public will have some movement towards certainty on the matter of Brexit. It has been the country's main focus for far too long:
Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) have been in operation since 2009 but after 10 years, the Mental Capacity Act has been amended, and they will be replaced by Liberty Protection Safeguards (LPS) from spring next year.
The change was heavily debated within Parliament and passed by a narrow margin. With such a delicate subject it is no surprise that the proposed changes have brought with them a wave of discussion and intrigue. In this article, we are concerned with how they will protect the rights of the individual.
There will be many schools of thought on this as to what information needs to be included and what needs to be excluded. What we believe is that as many pieces of the jigsaw as possible are required to create the best possible case record. By including as much information as you can, you will ensure that the individual in front of you receives the best care available.
Many analysts believe the move to 5G will be as revolutionary as electricity, with many commenting we spent the last 30 years connecting people; but we will spend the next 30 years connecting things. What will the impact be for social care?
Like all frontline services, Special Education Needs and Disabilities or SEND is coming under increased financial pressure, alongside increased awareness and pupil population. It is something that will result in nearly a billion pounds of the deficit by 2021/22. It is a problem and one that the country’s first Bi-Borough partnership for SEND has sought to solve through the implementation of technology. Vik Verma, One SEND Project Director and Deborah Brooks, One SEND Culture and Change Lead explain more.
Local authorities across the country are battling against a consistent stem of cuts and an increase in demand. This is relevant within SEND and all other frontline services. Most headlines will showcase the difficulties that services are running through but few choose to showcase the strides that local authorities have made when it comes to reversing the effects of continual cuts.
Birmingham City Council is the largest local authority in Europe. They represent the largest number of constituents as a single authority, at more than one million. With so many depending on them for such a wide range of services, they knew that they needed to look to technology in order to create efficiencies. This is where they found ECLIPSE and a means in which to effectively change their working practices.
Put simply, they are an organisation dedicated to the health and wellbeing of individuals with mental health issues and learning difficulties. They are also the recipients of not one but two ‘Outstanding’ ratings from the Care Quality Commission, CQC. These ratings are notoriously difficult to come by, with less than 5% of the total number of inspected organisations achieving his rating.
It is with great pleasure that we are pleased to announce that we have been nominated for two awards at this year’s HTN Awards. Alongside The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, we have been nominated for the Impact of the year and User-lead innovation awards. Two awards that demonstrate our commitment to health and social care, creating solutions that make a difference.
2050. It seems like a long way off but like the impending storm that is Brexit, it will be here sooner than we know. Experts in the sector believe that this will be a key year for Artificial Intelligence (AI) as this is the year that experts predict AI will be able to perform any intellectual task a human can perform.
Brentwood’s “Phases of Modern” project aims to transform desktop and business systems and make them fit for purpose for the modern workplace. The project originally went to committee in 2015 and involved a relatively minor uptake of Cloud technology for Disaster Recovery (DR) purposes.
At the time, Brentwood needed to replace a shelf in their ageing Storage Area Network (SAN). Three options were considered:
An honest politician seems to be the hardest thing in the universe to attain. Harder than a Plumber or Builder. The reputation of politicians is at its lowest point and so we have to ask ourselves the question, will Boris Johnson keep his social care promises? It seems as though it should be the easiest question in the world to answer but experience dictates the questioning of this statement.
Much like the fabled, Green Paper for Social Care, Delayed Transfers of Care seem to have been forgotten about. Only to be heard of in passing and used alongside much bigger stories but what should we take from this? Should we assume now that the problems have subsided and are under control? Should we take this as the delays have reduced and no longer cost the NHS nearly a billion a year? Or do we take it that other concerns have overshadowed those associated with Delayed Transfers of Care?
Without the essentials in life, we are like a wall without foundations, shaky and uncertain, prone to falling over. With nearly a million Malware threats per day, cyber-security is an essential requirement for any organisation and cannot be an afterthought. Without the basics, you will be left vulnerable.
The UK Government G-Cloud Framework is an initiative targeted at easing procurement by public-sector bodies in departments of the United Kingdom Government of information technology services that use Cloud computing.
As much as we would all like to say that safeguarding is not an issue in our society, it is. Safeguarding is a global issue that affects everyone. We need to acknowledge this and work together to minimise risk. We need to create working cultures that deem behaviour of this nature unacceptable to bring those responsible to justice, quicker.
For the third consecutive year running, the number of pupils with special education needs (SEND) has increased, moving from 14.6% to 14.9% at the start of this year. This headline figure has been garnered from the Department of Education and shows that more than 1.3 million pupils are now classed as having Special Education Needs.
Sounding like an extra from the next Terminator film, the new NHS Unit (NHSx) has been tasked with, ‘Driving forward the digital transformation of health and social care’. A noble cause and one that we applaud. Fax machines belong in a museum and not within the confines of a modern healthcare organisation, especially one that deals with an average of a million patients every 36 hours.
We assume that social care will, much like the NHS be free throughout our lives and with this precedence that the NHS creates, it is an understandable assumption. We have this illusion shattered at a point in our lives. In this moment, we find out that in reality, social care is not free and it is a bone of contention that continues to follow successive governments.
Just under eighteen months after the initial incident was made public and Oxfam is struggling. They are swimming against a tide of cuts, abuse claims and a new Chief Executive under accusation for covering up an employee’s encounters with sex workers at a previous charity. It is a milestone moment for the global charity in which quests for donations will become increasingly difficult and may lead to further cuts down the line.
Two years ago the world bore witness to a cyber-attack that did not limit itself to one sector or country. Managed security services could have helped to address the balance and mitigate against the fallout but is this a fair assessment? Did the government do enough to protect people and the NHS?
Angus Council’s ECLIPSE software goes live, enhancing systems of support for Children and Families.
This week we will be in attendance at the Social Work Scotland conference. An event that each year is attended by hundreds of policy makers, managers, practitioners and those eager to discuss problems, to see how we can make changes that benefit all. This year’s themes revolve around, rights, relationships and recognition.
Somerset County Council has looked to the future and chosen the only cloud-native case management solution for social care. They have chosen, ECLIPSE Case Management to support the transformation of adult social care services across the authority.
Last week was mental health awareness week and whilst we celebrate this fact each and every year, we feel as though it is a 365 day a year consideration.
We empower our staff to make a difference and give back. To this end, a team of Change Makers from OLM will attempt the Three Peaks Challenge next month. They will be doing so in aid of the Cystic Fibrosis Trust and have an ambitious target of £1,500 to raise, with a defined time frame of 24 hours in which to complete all three summits.
Safeguarding should not be isolated. It should be for everyone, to avoid issues such as those seen in Haiti.
What do you think of when you think of think of the word, safeguarding?
We are passionate about social care, monitoring the latest thinking and technical advances to come up with innovations to support the sector. We seek out talented individuals who add to our collective knowledge and by that token, look for organisations that have similar thoughts. One of these organisations is the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS). We are proud to sponsor them and were in attendance for their recent, Spring Conference.
Leading Armed Forces Charity, Help for Heroes, has gone live with ECLIPSE Case Management from OLM, in order to improve the digital infrastructure across the charity. The introduction of the cloud-native solution is a milestone moment for the team, as they are now able to enhance the efficiency and outcomes of its services.
Getting the right start in life is essential. Children are products of their surroundings and a tough childhood can lead to being ‘bounced around the system’. Early support services like Sure Start and Early Help teams can counteract these issues and ensure that each and every child receives the best start at life possible. With this in mind, you have to ask yourself why these services are closing down across the country, leaving children to fend for themselves.
China’s ageing population threatens to curtail the economic progress it has made in the last forty years. Why? It is facing a unique if not unfamiliar challenge to what is being faced by social care teams across the world. How do we support the elderly members of society in the most cost effective manner possible?
Over the past ten years I have seen technology grow at an astounding rate and I’m always interested in how we can apply this to improve the lives of Children and Families.
Tomorrow is National Offer Day, a day in which parents around the country receive the news they were looking for or dreading.
Central Bedfordshire Council (CBC) is a unitary council, which provides over a hundred services to a quarter of a million people, and is responsible for schools, social services, rubbish collection, roads, planning, leisure centres, libraries, care homes and more. Their citizen’s data that they hold and protect is of the upmost importance to the council. Like many councils, CBC is transforming themselves with a focus on increased mobilisation of their teams, improving the services they provide and reducing costs by moving to the cloud.
The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust have worked with IT provider, OLM to optimise their 0-19 service.
What is an accreditation? It is a statement of compliance that showcases to potential partners your commitment to maintain certain high standards. These industry standards are then sought after as they offer a warm hug for organisations seeking certain expertise. If they have two suppliers and want to differentiate them, then the accreditations they list can help each individual supplier to stand out from each other.
Bi-Borough councils, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and Westminster City Council are to improve IT systems infrastructure across the SEN service to deliver better digital care. The authorities have awarded OLM a contract to replace existing systems with the implementation of next-generation case management system, ECLIPSE, to support the SEN (special education needs) service and integrated case recording.
Social care is a frontline service, every bit as important as the NHS. They are two pillars of the same house that care for millions every year. They are services that will affect us all at some point in our lives and so we should have respect for both, and see them as equals. One is not greater than the other and you could even argue that they cannot survive without each other.
According to research from Age UK there are nearly 1,000 elderly individuals that are being needlessly admitted to hospital every day. These figures relate to conditions such as ear, nose or throat conditions, kidney and urinary tract infections, alongside angina. All of these conditions could have been avoided if the individual was in receipt of better care.
Teaching today includes an element of safeguarding, as for some children their teacher is the only stable relationship that they have. Without effective intervention and safeguarding from a young age, children can be driven into the arms of gangs where they can commit unspeakable crimes. We have seen this recently with the increase in teenage knife crime, but what can be done?
It’s a subject that we have written around for years with the state of care slowly descending to the point of failure. It is failing across the board, being propped up by unpaid carers and underpaid and overworked care workers. It is a situation that will not be remedied overnight and is constantly overshadowed by the big B, Brexit.
We all know and accept this. It is not something that we are fighting, quite the opposite in fact. Digital has transformed the manner in which we live our lives. We have access to everything we could ever need, from devices no bigger than a cup to self-driving cars. It is an age of enlightenment but one that has come rather late to the NHS.
The safeguarding of data for local authorities is of paramount importance and round the clock protection needs to be ensured.
The Oxfam scandal of 2017 brought to life many truths that the sector would have preferred to remain hidden. It showcased the lack of safeguarding policies employed across the sector and was brought to life by the Times.
When we looked to develop new social care IT software from the ground up, we knew we needed it to work for those that would be using it everyday, the Social workers.
OLM is delighted to announce that it has been successful in its application to feature in two categories on the Crown Commercial Service RM3821 framework.
Over the past 27 years, we have taken customers through three different technology upgrades, with ECLIPSE being the fourth and most recent. During each update we have considered the customer first and never left anyone behind.
This is the call by NHS England and Health and Social Care Secretary, Matt Hancock.
To most of you reading this article, Fax Machines are a thing of the past that have been slowly phased out but for the NHS they are essential*.
Devon County Council today celebrated the launch of our ECLIPSE software and services platform for children’s services.
In a recent BBC investigation via Freedom of Information requests, it has been discovered that around 40% of the plans requested have taken longer than they should.
At this year’s NCAS Conference, a new fringe event has emerged, Social Care Future.
Insight Behavioural Service provides specialist support for adults with learning disabilities and challenging behaviour.
Newcastle’s Children and Adult’s Social Care Services have selected ECLIPSE to support the transformation of their Social Care services.
Technology is essential to the future of the NHS.
How do we safeguard children effectively in 2018?
The Green Paper is a buzzword within social care. When spoken aloud it is greeted with equal measures of enthusiasm and frustration. Why?
In advance of their 100th birthday, Person Shaped Support (PSS) have selected our ECLIPSE solution to transform case recording.
There is a multitude of Children’s Service practice models being used across the UK: reclaiming social work, restorative practice, signs of safety, the team around the relationship, the list goes on…
Occupational Therapists (OT) are interested in how a person interacts with their environment, and the impact that this has on their daily life. The Royal College of Occupational Therapy (RCOT) defines occupation, as:"the practical and purposeful activities that allow people to live independently and have a sense of identity”.
The issue of delayed transfers of care is a national one and it is one that we have spoken about in depth. Our solution to the crisis is one that has received not only national but also international recognition.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Social Work Scotland Act and the annual Social Work Scotland event has took this as its theme.
Barnardo’s select OLM’s ECLIPSE case management and ECLIPSE Citizen Engagement tools to ensure that children’s needs are met and voices heard.
Pareto’s law (or principle) states that for many events, 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes.
If you are of working age then you have no doubt thought about this question at least once in the past ten years.
The real competitive advantage in any service is one word only, which is “people”. This is especially true in social care.
Like it or not the digital world is here and it is here to stay. Those that embrace it will thrive and those who do not will fall. Social Work is no different. The difference with Social Work is that the cost of failure is so much higher.
Being ignored is never nice. Whether it is by your friends, family or your partner, it doesn’t matter, it hurts. There is no nice way to be ignored.
OLM produces social care technology that takes the complexity out of people's lives.
