Patchwork
A digital tool to connect public servants working with vulnerable peoplePatchwork
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Type of client
- Local government
- Time
- 3 years
- Client
- Staffordshire Council
- Design support
- Nesta
- Designer
- FutureGov
Background
The tragic death of ‘Baby P’ in
August 2007 caused
shockwaves through local
government and the care
profession in the UK. The
17-month-old Peter Connelly
had died after suffering a
series of injuries inflicted
by his parents over eight
months, during which time was
seen repeatedly by children’s
services and health
professionals.
Part of the problem is that
although in theory the group
of professionals supporting a
vulnerable child are aware
of each other’s involvement and
able to share concerns –
as a series of care scandals
have shown, often this
isn’t the case.
Communication between these care
agencies is
surprisingly difficult, most
agencies use case
management systems which hold
information too detailed
and sensitive to share widely,
creating gaps in
knowledge. Each organisation has
its own way of working
and practitioners often find it
difficult to refer their
client to the right person to
help.
Dominic Campbell, founder of
design agency FutureGov,
felt this was an area where
social networking technology
could make a difference.
Networks like Facebook and
LinkedIn had already made a huge
impact on the way we
communicate with friends and
colleagues – but the
potential of the social web to
improve public services
was largely untapped. FutureGov
brought together a
multi-disciplinary group that
included children’s and
social services, teachers,
police, health workers,
technologists, designers and
funders to discuss what
could be done.
Sat watching the case of Baby P unfold on television, I was left feeling hugely saddened, frustrated and powerless to help. It got me thinking where I might be able to provide some support, specifically how we might be able to draw on social technologies to contribute to safeguarding children.
How design helped
Working with practitioners,
FutureGov built a
prototype for a service
called Patchwork. Patchwork
is
secure web tool that
connects professionals,
allowing
practitioners from different
organisations to quickly
and simply access the
contact details of others
working with their clients.
Patchwork means frontline
staff, such as district and
county council contacts,
fire service and social
workers, can log on to a
website, enter the name of a
client, and immediately see
which other agencies and
professionals are supporting
that person. They are
also provided with details
of the best way to
communicate with those
people, whether mobile,
landline or email.
In a child protection case that means if you have got an uneasy feeling in your stomach, you can find another practitioner to test your theory with, and then do something about it.
FutureGov was able to raise
€350,000 in start up
investment to take Patchwork
from prototype to
product. This investment
came from three local
councils in the
Staffordshire region of the
UK, as
well as two innovation
charities: Nesta and the
Nominet Trust. These
organisations not only
provided
funding but also a strong
network around the project.
Using rapid prototyping as a
basis to innovate and
iterate ideas was crucial to
securing funding, and
meant everyone involved had
the opportunity to shape
the project and feel part of
its success. A rigorous
design approach was vital to
creating a user-led
service to tackle this
difficult and complex issue.
FutureGov worked with front
line staff to make sure
they created a service that
would work for them –
putting an effective tool in
the hands of people who
could make a difference.
Ask what the most important thing is first off, then build that – and then every two weeks, every month, release a new version, so you’ve already started change on day one, not year three.
The outcome
Patchwork is now live across two UK councils, Staffordshire and Surrey, word spread fast and the service is now being used in Australia in the states of Victoria and New South Wales which have a combined population of 12.3 million.
One of the most useful things I find is the ‘Email all’ button, it means that really quickly I can update people with what's going on. Before I had to do this in Outlook and it was just messy, and took time to check who was who. Now one click and the email is sent.
User numbers are
growing all the
time, currently
these are:
- Surrey (UK): 438 agencies, 409 care professionals, 1,082 clients
- Staffordshire (UK): 126 Agencies, 625 Agents, 2,473 clients
- State of Victoria (Australia): 147 agencies, 410 agents, 310 clients
New South Wales is the latest region to trial Patchwork where they are piloting it across young people’s services. In the first month the number of agencies has grown from 12 to 19, the number of agents has increased from 39 to 100 and the number of clients from 18 to 50.
Through the Patchwork project we’ve demonstrated you can have cheaper, more elegant, easier to use technology that does a job, doesn’t need huge week-long training sessions, saves money and changes councils.
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