First 24-hour social care call centre launched

The country’s first 24-hour social care call centre has
been launched alongside a pioneering computer system that holds
information on children that can be accessed by all agencies,
writes Sally Gillen.

Liverpool council has set up the £1 million centre, which
will run the new computer system that allows professionals to
obtain information on the city’s 108,000 children.

Its creation follows the publication in January of Lord
Laming’s report into the death of Victoria Climbie, which
highlighted poor information sharing between professionals as a key
failing in the case.

The call centre, which has dealt with around 3,000 calls a week
since it was launched last month, is staffed by six social workers
and a team manager, who have been deployed from the council’s
social services department.

Next month, the council will pilot its ‘children community index
system’, which will integrate information from social services,
education and a range of others areas such as Connexions and youth
offending.

The council has spent around £200,000 on the system, half
of which was provided by the government for its identification
referral and tracking work.