Derbyshire County Council has introduced a ‘single child view’ computer system with case histories for children and younger adults at risk. The new system has replaced 25 systems used by a range of staff responsible for child protection.

The system has a secure single database that will help staff in the Children’s & Young Adults Department and partner agencies, including the Police, NHS and schools to share information on children and young adults at risk and the environments in which they live.

The system, installed by CACI, provides a data and case management solution and it will support 16,675 staff excluding schools. It will serve a total population of 762,000 with varying levels of affluence and deprivation, located within both widespread small rural communities and densely populated areas to the north and east of the 2628 square kilometre county.

Commenting on the contract, Paul Richards, Director of Children & Young Peoples Services at CACI, said: “We are delighted to be working with Derbyshire on this ground breaking project. They are the first authority to adopt such a comprehensive transformation of children and young people’s services, decommissioning multiple current systems and replacing them with one highly secure single solution.

This new solution, sharing a single database with a common user interface, will support both departmental and multi-agency needs. Derbyshire, who performed well in its latest Ofsted inspection, is taking an admirable ‘long term’ approach to improving service delivery and efficiency, rather than simply reacting to problems in particular sectors with a short term fix.”