Invitees:

Cllr P White - Cabinet Member Adult Social Care Health and Wellbeing

Cllr H J Townsend - Cabinet Member, Childrens Social Services and Equalities

Cllr M Gregory – Cabinet Member Resources

Ness Young – Corporate Director – Resources and Section 151 Officer

Susan Cooper Corporate Director – Social Services & Wellbeing

The Scrutiny Officer introduced a report which updated the Committee on the implementation of the Welsh Community Care Information System (WCCIS) since Cabinet approved the signing of the Master Services Agreement and Deployment Orders on 31 March 2015. 

The Corporate Director Social Services and Wellbeing reported that BCBC had led the procurement of a national Community Care Information System which supports both health and social care and which will go live on 1 April 2016.  She highlighted the importance of the system being implemented to work alongside the Social Services and Wellbeing (Wales) Act 2014 to be introduced on 6 April 2016 and which will bring into place an assessment framework.  She stated that CareWorks Limited had been appointed as the successful tenderer to deliver the new information system across local authorities and the NHS in Wales.  The set up cost for the procurement was funded by a capital grant from the Welsh Government.  In addition to the national infrastructure there was a requirement for this Council to purchase the software to replace the existing DRAIG product which would cease to be supported beyond April 2016.  The Corporate Director Social Services & Wellbeing informed the Committee that CareWorks was also the supplier of the DRAIG system and had given an assurance that they would continue to provide support until the new system was fully operational.   

The Corporate Director Social Services & Wellbeing informed the Committee that the procurement of the system had been driven by the integration of health and social care and the need for it to be citizen centred which allowed professionals to access and share information.  She stated that BCBC had signed up first for implementation of the system and would be followed by Ceredigion and Powys Councils.  She informed the Committee there are currently a variety of health and social care systems serving local authorities and health boards and trusts.  The procurement was structured to provide an all Wales system with a national specification. 

The Corporate Director Social Services & Wellbeing informed the Committee that the system had been shaped by its users and she outlined the benefits of the system.  In terms of the governance arrangements a National WCCIS Board had been established to oversee the strategic implementation.  Bridgend was represented by the Corporate Director Social Services & Wellbeing and the Corporate Director Resources with the Head of Finance and ICT and the Head of Adult Social Care as alternates.  The Project Board is chaired by the Corporate Director Social Services & Wellbeing, whilst Tracy Bell, CCIS & Schools MIS Support Team Leader of the ICT Department manages the project with representatives from the NHS and CareWorks on the Project Board.      

The Corporate Director Social Services & Wellbeing informed the Committee of the Transfer of Information process from DRAIG to the WCCIS which would be undertaken by CareWorks.  The process of data transfer would be governed by a National Migration Strategy which had been developed with CareWorks with input from local authorities and health boards.  She stated that the full benefit for service users in terms of a single citizen record and easier information sharing would be dependent on all agencies adopting WCCIS.  Arrangements will be put in place to ensure the transfer of information is undertaken appropriately and that training is in place for practitioners.  The Corporate Director Social Services & Wellbeing informed the Committee that she was positive that WCCIS will be more effective but there was a significant need to be mindful that social work staff are already stretched. 

The Committee questioned the access arrangements to the system by patients.  The Corporate Director Social Services & Wellbeing informed the Committee that patients would not be given access to the WCCIS as the system is to be used by practitioners.  Patients requiring access to their records would have to do so through a Freedom of Information Act request.  The Corporate Director Social Services & Wellbeing informed the Committee that communication would be made with all regarding the implementation of the WCCIS and the Social Services and Wellbeing (Wales) Act 2014.  The CCIS & Schools MIS Support Team Leader informed the Committee that a Social Worker inputting a patient number to the system would only be able to access basic information, care plans received by the patient and assessments which was dependent on the level of service the individual was receiving.  The Corporate Director Social Services & Wellbeing also informed the Committee that Social Workers and District Nurses are working together regarding access to the system.  Hospitals would have access to the system for bed management allocation and acute services.  Version 5.1 of the system would bring about functionality for use by hospitals.  The CCIS & Schools MIS Support Team Leader informed the Committee that Version 5 of the system will go live on 1 April 2016 and confirmed that Version 5.1 would have bed management and referrals as part of its functionality.  The Cabinet Member Adult Social Care Health and Wellbeing stated that he was privileged that Bridgend was taking the lead with the procurement and implementation of WCCIS.  The Committee questioned whether all medical records would be held on the system.  The CCIS & Schools MIS Support Team Leader informed the Committee that only medical records for community services would be held on the system. 

The Committee questioned whether training on the system for a month was sufficient as well as the timescale for implementing the Social Services and Wellbeing Act.  The CCIS & Schools MIS Support Team Leader informed the Committee that practitioner workshops had already been held during November and that online training and webinars were being considered.  She stated that the Swift Consortium are assisting with training 600 – 700 users and Ceredigion Council had offered to provide a member of staff to deliver training. 

The Committee praised the work being carried out to implement the system and its  integration with health and social care but expressed concern that BCBC had been the only organisation to have signed up to WCCIS.  The Corporate Director Social Services and Wellbeing stated that a number of local authorities and health boards had indicated their willingness to sign up and that ABMU were yet to sign up.  

The Committee questioned the security of 24/7 access to records and expressed concern that records could be reviewed at any time, by which emergency services and the level of access which could be viewed.  The CCIS & Schools MIS Support Team Leader commented that it would be the Emergency Duty Team which would have access to WCCIS.  There would also be different levels of access by users to the system.  The Committee also expressed at the security aspects of out of hours access to the system.  The Corporate Director Social Services and Wellbeing informed the Committee the Emergency Duty Team required access to WCCIS out of hours.  She stated that the Corporate Director Education and Transformation is leading the MASH project which is a collaboration involving the police and health and social care to work from one hub. 

The Committee referred to WCCIS being based on Microsoft technology with a common user interface and questioned whether there was potential for a security breach.  The CCIS & Schools MIS Support Team Leader commented that there would be different levels of access to WCCIS.  She stated that staff working in Adult Social Care would not have access to Childrens Services records and different levels of security would be in place according to roles and there would be appropriate restrictions in place to ensure that the system would lock down for someone who should not have access to the system.  The Committee questioned how a member of staff in another authority would have access to a service user’s records.  The CCIS & Schools MIS Support Team Leader commented that a member of staff in another authority would be able to establish that the service user is known to this Council and that the allocated worker would receive an alert if the “break glass” function was affected. 

The Committee questioned the number of authorities / health boards that would be signed up by 1 April 2016.  The Corporate Director Social Services and Wellbeing informed the Committee that this Council would be the only party signed up to WCCIS by 1 April 2016, it was anticipated that Ceredigion Council would be singing up in June / July 2016.  It had been very clear to all local authorities and health boards by the Minister that they would have to sign up to WCCIS.  She stated that DRAIG would no longer be supported from 1 April 2016.  The Head of Finance and ICT confirmed that DRAIG would no longer be supported beyond 31 March 2016 and that many local authorities were still signed up to the SWIFT system on contracts of varying lengths and those authorities would not wish to pay for two systems at the same time.  He stated that it would take time to get all local authorities on board and the Board would determine when authorities would go on to WCCIS.  The Corporate Director Social Services and Wellbeing stated that a Deployment Order would need to be signed which is for 8 years duration with an option to extend annually up to 4 years.  She stated that health boards had not yet signed up as the health functionality for hospitals was not currently on WCCIS. 

The Committee questioned whether there is a data migration strategy as it was keen to see the reputation of the authority remaining intact.  The CCIS & Schools MIS Support Team Leader informed the Committee that work was currently in progress on a data migration strategy and that some data on DRAIG would remain in an archive. 

The Committee questioned whether the Council would bear the risk for the total cost of the system over a period of eight years and queried whether it was protected against any further costs relating to the potential need to update software/hardware or to upgrade the system.  The Head of ICT and Finance informed the Committee that the duration of the contract was for a period of 8 years with an option to extend for a period of up to 4 years.  He stated that the supplier had significant developer costs and that future developments may not be covered and if changes were needed they would have to be made on the basis of being subject to a commercial agreement.  Changes to the already detailed specification which had been developed in conjunction with practitioners from social work and the health service would need to be agreed by the National Board. 

The Committee questioned whether the Council would be at risk of incurring additional costs as a result of hardware / software upgrades to the system.  The Head of Finance and ICT informed the Committee that the costs are fixed up front any additional costs were unlikely to be significant.  The Corporate Director Social Services and Wellbeing informed the Committee that some authorities may be locked in to contractual arrangements with their existing supplier which ranged from 18 months to 8 years.  The CCIS & Schools MIS Support Team Leader informed the Committee that the system had an emphasis on flexibility and it was possible for authorities to adapt the system by adding fields to suit their needs.  The Committee questioned whether the Council was protected from an increase in costs.  The Corporate Director Social Services and Wellbeing informed the Committee that the National Board would hold CareWorks to account.  The CCIS & Schools MIS Support Team Leader informed the Committee that the contract with CareWorks stipulated that it would include updates which for provide statutory changes.  The Corporate Director Social Services and Wellbeing stated that CareWorks had set themselves the target of signing up all 22 local authorities to WCCIS. 

      The Committee questioned would the authority receive some financial benefit due to it being the first authority to sign up and use the system.  The CCIS & Schools MIS Support Team Leader informed the Committee the authority would not be the first to go live as it was already in use in the USA, England and in Ireland.  There would be no financial benefit from this but that the Authority will be able to share lessons learned and cascade training to support other local authorities. 

      The Committee questioned whether the Council would continue to pay for DRAIG.  The Head of Finance and ICT stated that the Council would not pay twice and payments for DRAIG would cease after 31 March 2016.  The Committee requested an explanation of the profile of expenditure over the duration of the contract.  The Head of Finance and ICT informed the Committee that the expenditure profile had been set by the Project Team. 

      The Committee questioned whether the system would be tested using live data.  The CCIS & Schools MIS Support Team Leader informed the Committee confirmed that live data would be used in testing the system.  Testing would take place in 4 phases but the data contained in the DRAIG system would not be used in WCCIS. 

      The Committee questioned the security aspects of using WCCIS as part of homeworking.  The CCIS & Schools MIS Support Team Leader informed the Committee that Social Workers are already engaged in homeworking and they would have to log in to the system securely and sign confidentiality clauses.

      The Committee thanked the invitees for their contributions.                            

Conclusions

The Committee noted the report which provided Members with an update on the progress of the implementation of WCCIS.

• Members praised the work being carried out to implement the system.
• Members were concerned that at the time of the meeting BCBC was the only LA signed up to the system.  The Officer explained two LAs were due to sign up and that others would be likely to do so when their contracts with DRAIG expire.  Other LAs are tied into contracts of varying lengths, for example those using SWIFT have time left to run on the contracts ranging from 18 months to four years.
• Members were also concerned that at the time of the meeting AMBU had not yet signed up to the system and some services, such as District Nurses, were dependant on AMBU sign up to enable them to use the system.  The Officer said that sign up by ABMU and other agencies was likely to be imminent but that some agencies and LAs were waiting to see what happens with BCBC first.
• Members noted the Go Live deadline of 1 April and the short period of time left for staff training in using the new system as well in preparation for the Social Services and Wellbeing Act.  The Officer acknowledged this and said that some training had already taken place.
• Members queried which ‘emergency services’ would have access to the system and to the data/information held on it.  The Officer responded that this referred to BCBC emergency services rather than police, fire service etc.
• Members queried whether BCBC would receive some financial benefit due to being the first authority to use the system.  The Officer responded that there would be no financial benefit from this but that the Authority will be able to share lessons learned and cascade training to support other LAs.
• Members noted the total cost of the system over a period of eight years and queried whether BCBC are protected against any further costs relating to the potential need to update software/hardware or to upgrade the system.  The Officer responded that it was likely that any significant costs in respect of future developments may not be covered. 

Recommendations

·      The Committee are adamant that a letter be sent from Bridgend County Borough Council to the responsible Assembly Minister regarding the current apathy regarding signing up to WCCIS by other Local Authorities and health agencies and that, whilst acknowledging that other LAs may have time left on current contracts with other providers, the responsible AM needs to be firm and clear in conveying the message that commitment and sign up to WCCIS is essential to improving the sharing of information across approved organisations/bodies and also throughout the whole of Wales.

Further Information Requested

• The Committee request clarification on any potential additional costs which might result from the implementation of the WCCIS system regarding any upgrade etc. over the lifetime of the contract.