Improving Information Sharing and

Management
Project Update

December 2012

Supporting appropriate information sharing and management

The National exemplar project for Improving Information Sharing and Management (IISaM) has continued to develop a range of practical tools to help information sharing for those supporting families, including those working to support troubled families, and ending gangs and youth violence. The internet site www.informationsharing.co.uk is the main way of accessing the tools available. The toolkit is structured into six stages of the information sharing journey and provides practical guidance. The site includes a number of case studies (such as developing a better privacy notice), templates and guides and top questions.

Mainstreaming

Designing and planning

Realising benefits

What are we trying to achieve?

Turning theory into practice

Implementing

Improving Information Sharing and

Management

Please take some time and review the internet site and the tools and information available. To develop the site we need user feedback. To do this go to www.informationsharing.co.uk and then from the sites home page click onto feedback survey or email your comments through.

We need your feedback!

Other News
At a national level the project has continued to develop strong links with other policy areas. This includes running a workshop (hosted by Wolverhampton City Council) with staff who are working around troubled families and ending gangs & youth violence and submitting evidence to the Department of Healths Information Governance Review (chaired by Dame Fiona Caldicott). The project itself is continuing to develop and refine tools and guidance to support appropriate information sharing. From January to June 2013, the project then moves into a national dissemination phase. This phase of the project is being developed now and aims to disseminate the findings and solutions developed within the 3 pilot sites.

Are you organising an event or working on a project where you think IISaM could add value?
If so please contact:

John L Curtis

Project Manager, Improving Information Sharing and Management Exemplar Project

Churchgate House, 56 Oxford Road, Manchester M1 6EU

Tel: 0161 237 4036 or Email: John.Curtis@neweconomymanchester.com

Improving Information Sharing and

Management

Project Update - Bradford

Families First

IISaM continues to offer support to the Troubled Families co-ordinator. Information sharing priorities are being driven by operational needs and current priorities including: drafting an information sharing protocol agreeing privacy notices and consent forms supporting partners to agree their data sharing Following on from the initial sharing of core data to identify families, Families First in Bradford is now undertaking a process to place those families in to one of three categories to determine their level of support. This requires a case conference style meeting with key partners to share relevant information. There are two key messages that can be drawn so far: The development of operational processes impacts upon the information required and the way in which it may be used. In order to feel confident about sharing information, partners need to be clear about what is being asked of them both in terms of the process and information needs.

Supporting Bradford Councils Information Assurance Group

IISam have been working with the Information Assurance Group with specific information sharing issues offering advice and support where appropriate. Current work is with officers engaged with the public heath transfer agenda reviewing suggested protocols and agreements. In addition a review of the Bradford District Partnership Information Exchange Charter has been suggested which IISaM will support if progressed.

Working with partners in the district

One of the key pieces of feedback from IISaM work to date is the need to understand how different agencies deal with and implement information sharing at the local level. Key questions included: Who uses what legislation? How do agencies use consent? Who are the main points of contact? What are the processes involved in agreeing to share information? IISaM is working with Bradford University to support the development of a local resource that will support local partners with their information sharing relationships.

Improving Information Sharing and

Management

Project Update - Leicestershire

Learning from Leicestershire

Leicestershires Multi Agency Information Sharing Hub (MASH) went live on October 8th, and is now responding to requests for consistent, collated information about the families receiving support from health visitors and Childrens Centres. The pilot phase of the MASH provides an opportunity to test the assumptions underpinning the design work, and to run through the processes to ensure they meet the needs of practitioners who are using the MASH. The pilot phase also provides a valuable opportunity to collect evidence on the benefit provided by the MASH, which forms a vital part of the case for future resourcing and development of the service. The MASH is staffed with secondees from the Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust, and from the County Councils Children and Young Peoples Service, as well as an analyst from the Councils Strategic Information and Technology team who pulls together the information gathered from source systems. This commitment to staffing and resourcing represents a big step forward in enabling the partnership to undertake initiatives of this kind. IISaM has contributed to ensuring that service users in Leicestershire are informed about how their information is managed in a clear, jargon-free way. The MASH project team has developed a set of materials to support the introduction of the service, produced in line with guidance from IISaM: a standardised form to make a request, whether the practitioner is from a health or Childrens Centre background principles for the use of information provided by the MASH, which give some straightforward guidance on printing, keeping and destroying the information key messages to explain the new process and what it means for service users an information leaflet, outlining the information sharing process and providing service users with an opportunity to find out more. In addition to these materials, the project officer is also capturing lessons learnt locally as case studies. Case studies are available which explore the process of designing a privacy notice, and which look in detail at the governance arrangements in Leicestershire, which make projects like the MASH possible. A full case study on the MASH is being developed, which will provide context to the toolkit, and gives examples of how issues in information sharing projects can be overcome.

Project Update - Greater Manchester Improving Information Childrens Centres now hold Sharing and
Management

contact details for pregnant women and new mothers

The thorny issue of sharing the contact details of pregnant women and new mothers has been overcome in two of the seven Greater Manchester Healthcare Trusts. Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust are using paper based systems for both ante natal and post natal sharing of contact details with Wigan Childrens Centres. Meanwhile, Pennine Acute Trust have developed an electronic system for the sharing of ante natal contact details and a paper based system for post natal with their Childrens Centres in Bury, North Manchester, Oldham and Rochdale. Central Manchester looks to be the next to follow suit with an expectation that they will be sharing post natal information on hard copy by early January. Differences in electronic systems between the trusts mean that electronic information transfers may not be so straight forward but work is continuing to make this possible. Check out the Pennine Acute Trust Case study on the website (LINK) to find out more and contact the team for further help on sharing information and improving services in your area.

Working with the Ending Gangs and Youth Violence Initiative

Wolverhampton City Council hosted an information sharing workshop for partners involved in Ending Gangs and Youth Violence within the city in early October. The IISaM project presented tools to help the partners to work through the early stages of the information sharing process. The workshop was well received and feedback will help the team to improve the tools and how they are presented to the audience.

Local Authority Connections

In order to ensure that the toolkit provides local authorities with useful and appropriate tools for working with troubled families, ending gangs and youth violence and other work requiring information sharing, connections have been made with the Association of Greater Manchester (AGMA) Information Governance Group. This group is mature and well-respected and has provided invaluable support and input to the toolkit. In particular, their work on the legal justification for sharing information and the development of the privacy notice for troubled families within Greater Manchester has provided really useful input to the toolkit.