Agenda item

To receive and consider a presentation regarding the Welsh Community Care Information System (WCCIS) – aims and purpose, what has been achieved to date, what are we doing now and in the future, issues and examples of improvement.

Officers:

Andrew Durant, Head of ICT and Programme Office, Powys CC.

Kara Price, WCCIS Project Manager, PTLHB

Alison Bulman, Director of Social Services, Powys CC

Carol Shillabeer, Chief Executive, PTLHB

Eifion Williams, Director of Finance and IT, PTLHB

Joanna Harris, Strategic Programme Manager (Children’s), Powys CC

Scott McGregor, Business Manager – Social Care, Powys CC

Kath Flanagan-Jones, Business Manager – Social Care, Powys CC

Documents Considered:

·                     None

Lead Officers:

·                     Andrew Durant, Head of ICT and Programme Office, PCC

·                     Kara Price, WCCIS Project Manager, PTLHB

Issues Discussed:

·                     Presentation received from Andrew Durant and Kara Price regarding the Welsh Community Care Information System (WCCIS), its aims and purpose, what has been achieved to date, what is being done now and in the future, issues and examples of improvement

·                     WCCIS is a single information system for Wales, enabling the sharing of information between local authorities and health. 13 organisations currently on the system with 11,000 users. Powys is the first and only area where the local authority and health are both on the system

·                     There is a Regional Programme group and Carol Shillabeer (Chief Executive PTLHB) leads as senior risk officer for Wales. Therefore, Powys has a significant role in Wales. Powys is a lead area due to the co-terminosity of the local authority and health and also joint funding agreements (Section 33 agreements). Powys County Council went live in 2017 and Powys Teaching Local Health Board are joining the system in an incremental implementation. Going first does come with “bumps in the road” as this is a significant challenge for Wales.

·                     In response to a question as to whether the implementation in Powys had been 2 organisations using the system individually or was there collaborative activity going on, it was noted that currently it was 2 organisations having moved their previous systems to the new system, but did give opportunities for better integration. Powys County Council had moved from the previous Draig system whilst Powys Teaching Local Health Board had moved from a previous paper based system

·                     The challenges being faced were the pace of change as possibilities and improvements had led to frustrations. However, Powys was pushing to get improvements to the system implemented. Regional changes can move forward quicker than national changes. There were infrastructure issues in Powys and the pace of fixing issues could also be frustrating.

·                     In response to a question regarding funding and possible hacking of the system, the Head of ICT commented that funding was a mixture. Welsh Government provided £6m funding to develop the system. The implementation is now down to the regional teams. Health have also put funding in to implement WCCIS by means of Section 33 pooled budgets. Welsh Government is providing grants to health services. In terms of hacking WCCIS is running from an NHS data centre. Penetration tests are undertaken annually and the results drive the action plan of improvements or changes to the system

·                     Mobile use – how much focus is there on this? The application is agile / mobile but currently the user needs to be online which can be a challenge in Powys. The mobile solution will overcome this. The delivery of the mobile application is currently late and will hopefully be delivered by the Autumn of 2018.

·                     A question was asked about integration with other organisations such as the police, fire which is especially important for vulnerable people. There was also a question about Welsh Language provision within the system. An explanation was sought regarding its use by mental health services

·                     With regard to mental health this would be a link between in patient bed management and the community team. It had only been implemented in North Powys at present. The system is a fully bilingual system. Nationally there is a Welsh Language Group working with Welsh Government. In addition, there is another company working with the provider Careworks on how to deliver a translation process within the system

·                     In response to a question regarding disabilities it was noted that there is a banner which appears against an individual service user which shows a person’s disability, risks, allergies etc. In response to the question about links to other organisations there are ongoing discussions regarding data sharing with a wider range of agencies

·                     If a person moves house – will the information be updated. The core professional is responsible for changing this information, then all forms etc will be updated

·                     Links with other hospitals / cross border communications. WCCIS will be integrated into an all Wales system. The Head of ICT is working with others regarding cross border working. The intention is that all organisations e.g. GPs, laboratories will be linked so that patient information will be available across Wales. This Welsh clinical portal will be linked to England so that English GPs or hospitals can see that information and then information can come back across the border and into WCCIS

·                     The question to ask the PSB is are the businesses making changes to the way that they are working i.e. is this about integration?

·                     Officers from the County Council’s Adults Services reported that adult services were using the information and changing their processes rather than just replicating the former system. However, technical issues were not delivering the changes so far and in exit interviews staff were identifying issues with WCCIs as to why they were leaving the organisation. Frustrations being identified included connectivity issues and the loss of data.

·                     The impact of WCCIS is different in the 2 organisations in Powys as the system is being run on two different networks. Hotspots have been identified and are being resolved. There are also issues with BT who are currently upgrading their network as well.

·                     Is this just a matter of time for things to improve or is there an issue with the system as well? WCCIS is a major transformational process. The infrastructure in being improved in Wales. Further education is also needed for users in using the system and having better locations to upload information. The delivery of the mobile application will alleviate many of the issues. There is an infrastructure issue in Powys due to connectivity. In addition, if Govroam is rolled out then all public buildings can be used for connectivity rather than health, local authority and GP practices as currently as Govroam will mean that everyone shares their wi-fi

·                     Another question for the PSB is regarding integrated processes. There continue to be separate processes by health and local authorities rather than common processes with the system being the enabler. As stated previously it is 2 organisations using the system without integration as yet. Joint approaches are possible but services are not there yet. This is not a system issue but a service issue so that both organisations are working as one

Outcomes: