A project led by Cumbria County Council’s Social Services has made it to the last three in contention for the prestigious Local Government IT Excellence Award. The overall winner will be announced at the SOCITM 2005 Conference held in Brighton on Tuesday 18 October 2005.
Cumbria County Council’s "Electronic Financial Assessment" has been shortlisted for the award. The County Council has worked with the London Boroughs of Sutton, Enfield and Lambeth to create a fully mobile system of Electronic Financial Assessments.
This system is used to assess contributions to residential and non-residential care. Cumbria County Council led the continued development of a prototype mobile technology system developed by the London Borough of Sutton.
Eden was used to pilot the scheme and it went live in the district from December 2004. Following the success in Eden, Electronic Financial Assessments will roll out across Cumbria from the end of October 2005.
The scheme has been part funded through Project Nomad, which is the national e-government mobile working program, sponsored by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.
The existing paper-based financial assessment process was cumbersome. Information gathered by officers during visits would be transcribed into the computer system on return to the office. The financial assessment calculations would be made after a visit and away from the client. The client would then be notified of the assessment result by post. This process was time consuming and caused delays in completing assessments.
Thanks to mobile tablet PC technology Social Services Officers can now complete an assessment during a home visit. Ultimately this means that Social Services are now able to offer a swift and efficient financial assessment for all service users requiring either residential or nonresidential care. The time saved has enabled visiting officers to provide more of a personal service.
As a result of the success of the Electronic Financial Assesment scheme a Technology Supplier from Bologna City Council has arranged to fly out to the awards ceremony specifially to meet Cumbria County Council's delegation and learn from their experience.
County councillor Oliver Pearson, spokesman for Adult Services says:
"Everyone at Cumbria County Council is delighted that we have been nominated for this award. The scheme has brought numerous benefits for the council and the public.
Electronic Financial Assessments mean that the whole process of assessment is quicker and more straightforward for both officers and anyone being assessed. It also ensures that we make the fairest charges as officers have access to the most up to date assessment information.
By reducing the amount of time officers spend processing an assessment a more personal service can be given to the service user and more time spent ensuring with that they receive the best possible support."