Saturday 27 August 2016

Delays in Child Protection IT

I am sorry to learn that it has proved necessary to announce a "recovery plan" for the Child Protection Information Sharing project, a system which will allow healthcare staff in hospital accident and emergency units and similar settings to identify children who are subject to child protection plans or who are looked after by local authorities.

Unlike other attempts to introduce IT to child protection (such as the wholly dysfunctional Integrated Children’s System), the Child Protection Information Sharing project is a system which is simple and has straightforward, achievable and supportable objectives. In short it is sensible IT for child protection.
To hear that a low cost and potentially very useful system is running behind schedule is very disappointing. Those involved, especially the relevant civil servants and ministers, should pull-out all the stops to ensure that the system is delivered as quickly as possible.