Patchwork

What is it? 

Patchwork from FutureGov is social web application for professionals working with vulnerable children and adults. It connects them to other service providers working with the same individuals so they can share information, co-ordinate their involvement and ultimately place the individual at the centre of everything they do.

Often a wide range of agencies will provide services to vulnerable children or adults including social services, education, health, the police, probation services, housing and the voluntary sector. However professionals are often unaware of other services that may be working with the same clients, and contacting others to share information about their involvement and coordinate the support each is providing is a significant challenge.

Patchwork does not hold information relating to individual cases but instead focuses on connecting professionals and building relationships to help them:

• Get a quick and easy overview of the people they are supporting;
• Find out who else is working with them and how to contact them;
• Invite in other people that should be involved
• Keep the picture up-to-date

Using smart design and social technology, professionals using Patchwork are able to provide better services to their clients because they know about - and communicate with - all of the other services that support that individual or family.

How the idea developed

FutureGov's initial idea was to build a lightweight app for professionals involved with safeguarding children that would 'pull' data off existing systems into a single, comprehensive picture, as well as allow children and their family's to add their thoughts to the data stream. However research with social workers from Westminster City Council highlighted the importance of human networks. Critically information sharing is more effective when practitioners know each other, but poorly design IT systems prevent relationships from being prioritised.

Professionals wanted something that facilitated relationships between them, rather than amalgamating information from existing systems so in the second phase of Patchwork's development the team worked closely with Lichfield and Staffordshire Councils to build a working prototype of the platform.

The project received £50,000 through Nesta's Reboot Britain programme to support the scaling of Patchwork into new local authority areas including Brighton and Hove.  

Latest news (as at 20 August 2012) 

Patchwork has now been pulled in under the Troubled Families programme in Staffordshire, so no longer specifically focuses in children in need. It is due to be rolled out across Staffordshire County Council and all 8 district councils in the county, and this will see the platform supporting 400 troubled families and up to 2000 practitioners. FutureGov are also working closely with Brighton and Hove Council to further develop the functionality of the platform.  

Want to know more?

Dominic Campbell, Founder & Director - dom@wearefuturegov.com