Integrated information is transforming health and social

care services
Technology and services from Civica allow local authorities and health trusts to work
seamlessly together and improve care in the community
London, 8
th
October 2014: Civica, a market leader in specialist systems and business
process services that help organisations transform the way they work, is supporting an
increasing number of health and social care providers across the UK as they respond to the
imperative for community care services to work seamlessly together. Building on the
foundation of Civicas integrated electronic patient record (EPR) and case management
system, Paris, health service organisations and local authority partners have established
exemplar programmes in the management of integrated care and improved patient services.
These include Belfast Health and Social Care Trust, Denbighshire County Council working
with Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, The Western Bay Substance Misuse Area
Planning Board in Wales and Cardiff & Vale University Health Board working with both
Cardiff City and the Vale of Glamorgan Councils.
Belfast Health and Social Care Trust was one of the pioneering adopters of Paris, which
now manages integrated health and social care information for over 340,000 citizens. Ita
Brown, Service Development Manager IT, Belfast Health and Social Care Trust added:
Since the Compton Review, which advocated tighter standards around the delivery of social
care for families and children in Northern Ireland, weve been working even harder to join-up
of all our community care records and processes. Civicas Paris has played a vital role in
doing so. Prior to implementing the system a hospital social worker might not have known if
a district nurse had already visited and delivered a specific care plan to a patient. Now users
can instantly see what service a patient is receiving in the community to avoid unnecessary
duplication.
Meanwhile, Denbighshire County Council launched a single point of access system using
Paris in June 2014, to meet changing requirements from the government. Phil Gilroy, Head
of Adult and Business Services, Denbighshire County Council explains: All referrals for
Community Health in Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, Denbighshire Adult Social
Care and a number of third sector organisations are now processed through our single point
of access which enables information about individuals to be shared quickly and securely. At
the same time, we have introduced agile working technologies to enable social care staff
access to records whilst on the move. The time saved means that everyone is spending
more time with individuals and working better together to promote health, well-being and
independence within the region.
To support the Welsh Governments Substance Misuse Strategy for Wales, The Western
Bay Substance Misuse Area Planning Board (on behalf of City and County of Swansea,
Neath Port Talbot Council, Bridgend County Council and the ABMU Health Board) has set
up a single referral point and a multidisciplinary Integrated team utilising Civicas Paris
solution for all Substance Misuse referrals across the three counties. Commenting on this,
Carol Rea Vice Chair of the Western Bay Substance Misuse Area Planning Board and Head

of Adult Services in the City & County of Swansea said: There are now a number of
different agencies and tiers of treatment which share a common Care Management record
with unified business processes, all of which has been enabled by the use of the Paris
Database. This sharing of records has allowed us to introduce a single point of entry to
support and treatment services via ABMU Alcohol & Drug Assessment Service. Instead of
multiple assessments with different agencies, there is now a single comprehensive
assessment with the multidisciplinary team which reduces duplication and waiting time so
that people get the support they need when they need it.
Cardiff & Vale University Health Board has further extended its comprehensive use of
Civica Paris so that the full scope of health and social care teams now hold and share a
single CMHT e-record. This has been particularly useful for its adult community health
teams, as Darren Shore, mental health crisis service manager describes: Ive been working
in mental health for over 30 years, and Paris has been, without a doubt, the most important
and beneficial thing thats ever happened to us. Its also been an asset to the regions Flying
Start childrens services. Programme manager Mark Cahalane explains: Weve overcome
the technical access hurdles of integrating health and social care, and now have over 300
users from both sides logging into PARIS to a shared single record solution. Weve even
equipped our Flying Start staff with mobile net-books so they can view and update patient
records in the childs home. Health visitors now represent around 60 of the 693 community
users of mobile Paris access across the Health Boards community and mental health
services.
David Roots, managing director, health and social care, Civica adds: The integration of
health and social care services is increasingly seen as an essential means of meeting the
demands of continually improving care in the community whilst facing the challenges of
cutting costs and an ever-changing demographic of service users. This pressure is not going
to relent so its encouraging to see organisations merging or working together to develop
patient-centric processes and share data with the clear objective of improving care in the
community.

ENDS

About Civica
Civica (www.civica.co.uk) is a market leader in specialist systems and business process services for
organisations across the public sector and around the world. Through experienced people who
understand service delivery, the Group applies software, cloud-based services and outsourcing to
help customers transform the way they work. Drawing on a unique combination of people, technology
and business process expertise, Civica supplies more than 2,500 organisations in the UK, Australia,
New Zealand, Singapore, Canada and the USA.