Social workers in Surry are to trial an app written for the new BlackBerry® PlayBook, which they hope will help cut down on paperwork, enable them to work more flexibly and save up to 20 per cent of their time.
The app will give around 20 social workers in adult care teams, mobile access to patient records and enable them to complete assessments and update information while making home visits.
The software company Northgate approached the council for a two-month trial and staff will be using the app from July. The trail comes at no cost to the council.
Caroline Farrar, senior manager in the transformation team in adult social care said, the app has some of the key functions of the Swift and AIS case management systems.
It enables staff to work on cases and tasks allocated to them offline and the database is updated next time they have connectivity.
“You don’t have to write things on a piece of paper. You don’t have to go back to the office and then type it up, so it’s trying to make life a whole lot easier for people,” she said.
“It’s surely going to cut down on journeys. Say someone has an appointment until 4.30, they can write it up at home or in the car.
“A lot of our county is rural which people don’t realise. We’ve got 11 district offices, but staff can still be travelling 10 miles.
“I think it just gives workers more flexibility in this day and age, it gives them more choices on how to manage their workload. They are not tied to their desks.
Ms Farrar said the touch-screen app was very intuitive and easy to use.
This article was published on the Community Care website on Friday, June 3, 2011
http://www.communitycare.co.uk/blogs/social-work-blog/2011/06/blackberry-app-frees-social-wo.html
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