Technology in Social Work: Practice example - Child Protection Information Sharing project (CP-IS)

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Inadequate information sharing between agencies is cited as a contributory factor in nearly 60 per cent of serious case reviews into the death or serious injury of a child following abuse or neglect, according to a 2013 NSPCC study.

CP-IS covers children and unborn babies who are in care or on a child protection plan. It was made available for local authorities and NHS sites in November 2014, two years after a business plan was drawn up by the Department of Health, which transferred responsibility for it to NHS England in April 2013. Operated by NHS Digital with £8.3m from NHS England until March 2018, it enables authorised staff within "unscheduled" NHS settings such as emergency departments, out-of-hours GPs, walk-in centres and minor injury units to quickly and securely share non-clinical information with social care staff about vulnerable under-18s presenting there, triggering potentially lifesaving discussions with social workers about a child's risk.