Improving Communication

ContactPoint



You can't share information if you don't know who to share it with - or where to find them.
http://www.everychildmatters.gov.uk/deliveringservices/contactpoint/

So you'll welcome ContactPoint, a practical tool that can be used to identify and contact other people working with a child you are involved with.

It will help you to concentrate on delivering services, rather than wasting time trying to track down who else is involved with a child - or unknowingly duplicating the efforts of others.

National solution

Based on the experience of "trailblazers" and consultations with other stakeholders, including children and families, ContactPoint is now live in Rochdale.

A national system is needed so that children who move out of a local authority area, or access services across local authority boundaries, benefit as well.

It will also help local authorities and others identify children missing from education, or who are not registered with a GP.

What happens next?
"Early adopter" local areas will have access to Contactpoint from January 2009. This will include Rochdale.

After some initial work on the system by the local ContactPoint Team they will select and train a Pilot Group of Practitioners at the end of April 2009. This group will assist with the evaluation of the training and actual system prior to the mass role out of training to practitioners later in the year – Sept/Oct 2009


What information will be on ContactPoint?
ContactPoint will contain individual records of all children with:

• name, address, gender, date of birth and an identifying number.
• name and contact details for:
• parents or carers
• educational setting
• primary medical practitioner
• practitioners providing other services
• the lead professional
• the person who holds the CAF

No assessment or case information will be held on the index.

The consent of the young person or the child's parent/carer will be required to record practitioner details for some targeted and specialist health services, and access to this information will be restricted.

How to access it
The main access will be through existing case management systems or a secure web link. Those without a computer will be able to access the information through a designated contact.

Find out more:
www.ecm.gov.uk/index
ContactPoint Fact Sheet