21C Supports Health & Social Care Organisations on JSNA
The media focus on the recent audit of social care services for the elderly has brought to light the ongoing struggle faced by local government organisations across the country. Councils will continue to struggle to cope with the financial challenge posed by England's ageing population – an issue further highlighted by the Audit Commission which stated that the current £9bn a year social care bill will double by 2026 if current practices continue.
The Commission advised that councils needed to investigate new, innovative ways to provide services, particularly by embracing technology. 21C, a leading supplier of Business Intelligence (BI) solutions to the health and social care sector, is one such technology company that can help address the needs of county councils and other government organisations, with it latest JSNA solution. The Joint Strategic Needs Assessment pulls together in a single, ongoing process, all the information which is available on the health and social care needs of a local population.
The 21C solution allows access to 150 data sets, with the capacity to take on many more, to support the local variation and smooth running of health and social care practices. It connects people with data using interactive maps, charts, graphs and data sheets (some of which are featured below) which are instantly and easily accessible in one place. The technology also supports Microsoft software including Bing maps, Sharepoint, Microsoft Office and SQL Server.
Paul Henderson, 21C’s CEO explains: “In this climate, Business Intelligence that can help model or forecast and monitor potential and actual consumption of services, is absolutely essential. Care planning needs to be based upon a good understanding of population, demographic, lifestyle and the “burden of ill-health.”
“The data is available, but it is held in disparate silos and is often inaccessible to those who need it, in a way that they can best consume it. Our solutions are built on market-leading Microsoft technology and allow staff in the health and social care sector to access the knowledge they need in order to do their job. It is combined in one place, is one version of the truth and has a range of ways of that it can be accessed. It doesn’t matter how technically savvy staff are or whether they sit in the NHS or a local government environment, the technology will work the way they want it to.”
Furthermore, 21C’s solution allows those who want to get really close to the raw data to do so, using familiar tools such as Microsoft Office - a common requirement in the industry.
Henderson concludes: “From what we have seen, the outputs from this toolset are staggering. Our solution can be deployed on a county council site in less than four weeks or staff could access our JSNA service in just a matter of days.”