Beyond bureaucracy: Emerging trends in social care informatics. (September 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Wastell, David; White, Sue
• Other Names: Dent Mike guest-editor.; Eason Ken guest-editor.
• Is Part Of: Health informatics journal. Volume 20:Number 3(2014:Sep.)
• Page Start: 213
• Page End: 219
• Publication Date: 2014-09
• Subjects: Bureaucracy -- innovation -- social care -- social media -- socio-technical design; Medical informatics -- Periodicals; 610.285
• DOI: 10.1177/1460458213487535
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1460-4582

Abstract

Existing information technology systems in much of UK social care have been designed to serve the interests of the bureaucracy rather than supporting professional practice or improving services to the public. The ill-starred Integrated Children's System in statutory children's services is typical. The Integrated Children's System is a system for form-filling, micro-managing professional practice through an enforced regime of standard processes and time scales. In this article, we argue against this dominant design. We provide several examples where technology has enabled alternative modes of support for professional work, based on socio-technical principles. One such system is Patchwork, which describes itself as a 'Facebook for Social Work'; its aim is to support multi-professional teams working with vulnerable families.