SafetyNET System

The Children Act 2004 and subsequent guidance describes the requirement to establish an index of the names and basic details of all the children and young people in a local area. These will form part of the national index, which is planned to be in place by 2008.

 

As a trailblazer area, we already have our local index and we intend to go on using this until the national index goes live. There will, of course, be a transitional period and some adjustment to process at that time. In any case, we will have trained large numbers of staff who will be well used to using a database and it is this fact that will enable us to switch to the national database without difficulty.

 

SafetyNET gives us the ability to identify individual children and young people on an electronic database and to record the involvement of those practitioners who are working with them. It will also identify universal providers such as schools and GPs.  Where a Common Assessment exists it will identify the name of the practitioner who completed it.

 

In addition, SafetyNET has a secure messaging system, which allows practitioners to receive notification in respect of other practitioner enquiries about a child or young person they are working with. It also allows more routine messaging between practitioners.

 

SafetyNET is accessed via the internet and access is controlled by the use of passwords. All those with access must have attended a training course, be approved by their employer and have a current Enhanced Criminal Records Bureau check in place. All transactions on SafetyNET can be audited and misuse of the system by any practitioner will result in consideration of disciplinary action.

 

SafetyNET will not contain any casework information, medical records or other personal data. Nor will it identify whether children or young people are on the child protection register. This will still be held in systems such as patient records or case files and will be controlled by individual agencies in the normal way.

 

Some “sensitive services,” such as those relating to sexual health and acute mental health will also not appear on screen because of the possible stigma attached to these services. Practitioners from those services will however be able to register their involvement behind the scenes so as to monitor other practitioner activity.  Furthermore, certain “safe houses” such as refuges for victims of domestic abuse will also be hidden from view so as to prevent risk of harm to individuals.

 

To find out more, visit the Sheffield SafetyNET web site.