I have already written about SONAR’s ability to join up healthcare information across criminal justice settings. The quality of healthcare information is also crucial.
The SONAR Data Portal – Which went live in a custodial setting for the first time last week – is designed to help managers identify problems in their data, as well as support their decision-making.
Coroners’ reports regularly highlight the harm that can arise from poor collection and entry of data. In one example, healthcare professionals in a police custody suite did not enter the correct level of risk on the electronic custody record, and were not sure of the meaning of the grade of risk:
““During the course of the evidence, it became apparent that the HCPs were not using objective and/or consistent criteria to assess the risk of [redacted], meaning that (a) the grade of risk assigned to AF was inconsistent and/ or inaccurate and (b) no one else knew what was meant by the grade of risk recorded in the electronic custody record. (2) Further, none of the HCPs who gave evidence used the criteria described in the online training materials.”
In another example, an offender did not receive a mental health screening within 48 hours, which was the procedure. The offender was also logged under different names, so that his information was incomplete:
“For example, according to the mental health team, multiple prison stays, under different names meant that Mr Kunarathnam's records were not easy to find. Records were kept but often not shared with others at the correct time.”
Last week, a new NHS England review of health and social care in women’s prisons recommended that prisons collect a wider range of data so that managers and researchers can better understand whether different groups of women experience services differently.
The SONAR Data Portal responds to all of these concerns. In terms of data quality, it will flag up data errors in existing criminal justice healthcare records systems. It will identify gaps in offender health records – for example, records which do not have NHS numbers.
For managers, it will generate reports on performance against KPIs, allowing managers to identify necessary improvements in services. And it will support joined-up thinking around resettlement and rehabilitation. For example, it could flag prisons which have a high number of offenders without a registered abode, and therefore a need for housing support.
Excellent healthcare information in criminal justice is not only joined-up but also accurate and actionable. I hope the SONAR Data Portal is a good way to achieve this.
Comentarios