Making assessments on the move

Care assessments, can be processed more efficiently with the development of Sandwell Borough Council’s Electronic Access Assessment tool, which allows officers to handle assessment while on the move.

The tool using web and mobile technology is able to:

• accurately determine if individuals qualify for support under the council’s Fair Access to Care Services eligibility criteria
• deliver consistency
• increase staff productivity
• be used in real time in a variety of settings
• automatically populate self assessment and carer assessment documents
• link to personal budget assessments
• meet equality impact assessment requirements.

The application has become the council’s main tool for identifying a customer's entitlement to social care support, and can be used by officers in a range of locations, including clients’ homes, hospitals or officers own homes, using 3G connectivity. 

The tool has been rolled out to the council’s Customer Contact Centre, the Rapid Response Team (including the Hospital Team), and the Long Term Wellbeing Team. 

It has already led to dramatic reductions in assessment times.

Contact:  Sanjeev Kataria, Putting People First, Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council, email: sanjee_kataria@sandwell.gov.uk .