Barnsley Council Integrates Finance and Social Care to Support Individual Budgets

Barnsley chooses Liquidlogic’s PROTOCOL Integrated Adult’s System for mobility and single interface

Leeds – 13 March 08 - Liquidlogic, a leading provider of collaborative software to the public sector, has announced that Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council has chosen its PROTOCOL Integrated Adult’s System (IAS) to support the provision of adult social care services throughout the borough. Liquidlogic has won the contract as prime contractor, with Oxford Computer Consultants (OCC) and Igneous Solutions as sub-contractors. In partnering with OCC and Igneous, Liquidlogic will be responsible for providing social care users with a configurable, easy to use IT system which integrates with the Council’s finance system (SAP Financials) to enable social workers to work more effectively and efficiently. The solution includes comprehensive finance and reporting functionality.

The borough of Barnsley is split into two geographically distinct areas, one highly urbanised and the other rural with disparate locations, which was a challenge for Barnsley in trying to deliver a cohesive service to the vulnerable adults in its care. Barnsley primarily chose Liquidlogic because its approach to implementation was in accordance with the borough’s desire for comprehensive deployment throughout Adult Social Services. Liquidlogic’s PROTOCOL solution was also deemed to be the best overall in terms of functionality and usability when compared to its competitors. The solution will be rolled out for use by the 325 system users in Barnsley Adults Social Services.

Martin Farran, Interim Executive Director, Barnsley Adults Social Services, comments; “Because we are a pilot for the government’s Self Directed Support and Individual Budgets programme, the fact that Liquidlogic could integrate the OCC Controcc finance systems into the PROTOCOL interface was very important. The integration with finance systems will increase our administrative efficiency and, more crucially, will provide an information management platform that can support the evolution of social care in the borough in respect of these two schemes.”

Barnsley was looking for a solution to deliver a comprehensive case management system to increase efficiencies and customer experience, and Liquidlogic’s IAS ensures that information is not duplicated across the social care services. PROTOCOL is fully mobile-enabled, allowing Barnsley to implement the use of tablet PCs. This will provide social care workers with remote connectivity to the system, regardless of how rurally-located the service user is.

“Liquidlogic not only delivered on all these points, but PROTOCOL also received very positive feedback from users during the evaluation stages,” added Farran. “The users felt that the system was clear and concise, allowing them to capture and provide information in a logical and practical manner.”

Denise Harrison, Sales Director at Liquidlogic, said: “The integration of PROTOCOL, SPOCC and Controcc will provide the fundamental platform to enable Barnsley Council to share and report on information. With the new integrated system and single interface, Barnsley will be able to engage with service users, service providers and other stakeholders to meet the needs and outcomes of vulnerable adults in its Borough.”

Going forward, Barnsley envisages that PROTOCOL will completely support its evolution to Self Directed Support and Individual Budgets, incorporating direct electronic engagement with service users and / or their carers, and fully integrating with existing care services.