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Transforming Public Services
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Digitising CHC is the fuel for ICS's change engine
As the Integrated Care Systems (ICS) structure continues to develop in 2023, how can we look to transform and improve the Continuing Healthcare (CHC) process through digitisation? And how can transforming this service set a model that will support the success and ultimate benefits that the move from Clinical Commissioning Groups to an ICS might bring?
Improving the Citizen experience on your website
It's becoming a common theme that citizens have 'Amazon-esque' expectations when dealing with local government and that a 'golden record' - a thread of a citizen's data through multiple supplier's databases is what Councils are wanting to achieve. IEG4's platform has all the components to enable councils to deliver this.
Improving and simplifying the complex process within Right To Buy with digital transformation
Enabling a digital approach in response to the Right to Buy scheme offers great potential to simplify the current complex and lengthy process - discusses Jackie Gill, IEG4’s Product Manager. Right to Buy has been a pathway for people living in council-owned properties to purchase their homes since the scheme was passed in the 1980 Housing Act. It offers a more affordable house price and it has proven incredibly popular.
It's Personal
For those of you that have been working on digital services forever, you’ll remember something called web 2.0. It was dismissed as irrelevant by naysayers back in 2005 but it turned out to be massive. While the layperson may not know what web 2.0 means or stands for they will almost certainly have interacted with a service that was born out of the evolution of internet to “web 2.0”.
Messaging Dinosaurs
John McMahon of IEG4 explains that not long ago, his teenage niece stated “email was for dinosaurs”. If correct, what are the implications for public sector customer services?
Public Services of the Future - What Will Our Public Services of the Future Look Like for Citizens?
Paul Tomlinson, explains how the public sector will build on its ability to be agile and responsive with digital solutions, breaking down silos, using data and building only on those platforms that enable flexibility.
Collaboration - How Will We Promote Collaboration and Drive Innovation?
Whatever the future looks like, councils will need to adopt a culture of ongoing iteration and a digital groundwork that enables innovation whilst encouraging collaboration.
Catalysts for Change - What Emerging Technologies will be Most Important in Transforming Public Service Delivery?
Exploring how emerging technologies around data will enable an increase in personalised services, more proactive action, no code digital services delivery, a more compassionate approach, and the provision of intelligent services.
A Citizen-First Approach to the Blue Badge Service
Local Government-as-a-Platform brings value to councils and citizens.
A New Normal - How Will the Tech Sector Continue to Support Public Services in a Post-COVID World?
John McMahon, IEG4 explores how Interconnected digital ‘engines’ that provide common functions are the future of local government service delivery...
Design Matters - Mobile
User experience is vital to the take-up of online services and matters even more in the public sector.
Keeping the Concessionary Travel Application Process Moving During Lockdown
In light of Covid-19, one of the biggest challenges faced by local authorities in determining a citizen’s eligibility for a Blue Badge or a Freedom Pass is the inability to have a face-to-face assessment.
Platforms and Potholes
John McMahon discusses how IEG4 are adding yet more platform-based, council-wide approaches - particularly around the theme of prevention.
DEVS, Digital Engines and the new normal in public sector digital
John McMahon, Product Director, discusses what, if given a specific set of circumstances, you could predict the future or look back into the past and what, if you could foresee the things people need to foresee?
Assets, Aggregation and No Code Visualisation
Andy Cope, Development Director, discusses four new functions that enable teams to build intelligent services that automate work and prevent duplication.
Businesses Matter (Business Rates/Commercial Waste/Licensing)
John Jervis looks at the importance of the business community to local government revenues and argues that effective digitisation of services will be not only attractive to business operators, but, will also offer councils new opportunities for revenue generation around improved services.
Data Driven Services - Data Driven Places
Paul Tomlinson, Managing Director of IEG4, discusses how customer engagement platforms should be sharing data across departmental silos and empower citizens.
Increased Dignity Through Digital Processes
A digital approach to CHC is about placing a laser focus on the importance of people getting their eligibility decision as quickly and as efficiently as possible, says Paul Tomlinson
They Ask, You Answer - Using an Outcome-Based Approach
The relationship between most citizens and their council is light touch and sporadic. The vast majority of citizens have little more than a Council Tax relationship with their council, with infrequent and difficult-to-predict touch points when it comes to the services they require. Maintaining a single view of these customers, just in case it’s needed, is a massive and unnecessary overhead.
Is your customer ready to adopt innovation?
One would think that if you have a great innovation – end-users tell you they love it, the benefits case is proven, efficiency gains are evidenced, you are on an accelerator programme – then job is done, surely the product should just fly out the door! However, in my experience, it turns out this is not necessarily so. If the prospective customer is not ‘adoption ready’ then much effort will be wasted.
Proactive Prevention - Personalisation Through Assessment
The pressure on social services to provide support for the vulnerable within the community is never far from the news headlines. Deadlines for a succession of promised green papers have come and gone. The reality may be that effectively funding social care is difficult to explain, difficult to achieve and, dealing with it, is politically toxic.
Blue Badge Administration - Relentless Focus on the End-user Experience
Remember the old Blue Badge application processing? The previous centrally offered Blue Badge application process was once described as ‘the most complained about service’ of the DfT. Recent changes to the central government Blue Badge web service means that the solution has been re-built with modern architecture.
Taking Service Directories Mainstream
In a thought-provoking lecture, entitled ‘Social Services Are Broken. How Can We Fix Them?’, Hilary Cottam stated that around £250,000 is spent each year, on each of around 100,000 families within the UK. However, she highlighted that the £250,000 is not spent on the families themselves, but instead on the cost of running the support systems which have built-up around them.
Keeping Customers in the Loop
Using a well-designed digital solution, which is built to be mobile-responsive and with end-user experience in mind, a council can acknowledge the receipt of the request, explain the next steps in a process and communicate service level expectations as soon as the request is received. As a result, the customer is kept updated about the progress of their enquiry.
Opening doors and unlocking the potential of better customer service
Imagine, as a local authority citizen, walking down a corridor where each door relates to a page shown every time a hyperlink is clicked, that potentially leads you to the information you require. Many doors may need to be opened before you find the answer you want. In fact, with this analogy, it doesn't matter the circumstance of the person opening the door, the time of year, whether revenues and benefits recovery and billing has happened; each door remains fixed in place, and the answers remain hidden.
Because Councils are Different - Blue Badge Flexible Workflow and No Code
In the ‘Real World’, there will always be local processing differences. That’s a fact and we have had to deal with it; dealing with it effectively is tricky. Driven by our mission to ‘enable digital transformation that is simply effective for everyone’, we’ve set out to make life easier for all those involved with Blue Badge.
Prevention, Orchestration, Automation
In the summer of 2014, a ground-breaking thing happened. The UK’s first robotic process benefit assessor starting processing claims in North Tyneside Council. Ground-breaking, because benefits is widely seen as the most complex aspect of local government administration. If you can leverage robotic process automation here, then you can use it to do any process.
GOV.UK Notify — Noteworthy?
The Government Digital Service (GDS) GOV.UK Notify service has come on leaps and bounds in recent months, and an ever increasing number of public services are using it for the delivery of email, SMS, and traditional letters.
Is social care broken? Will place based help?
Paul Tomlinson, CEO and Founder of IEG4 Limited, TechUK Local Public Services Committee Chair, continues to argue that technology is not the inhibiting factor in the delivery of Place-based Care. Rather, it’s politics, people and perfectionism that are stifling.
Council in a Box
All councils do things. The same things, over and over again. What things?
Making Innovation Possible
Technology should not operate in a vacuum. Doing what’s right for the customer is more important than protecting the fiefdoms of software and IT suppliers.
Location, Location, Location
As part of enabling Local Government as a Platform, eDesigner now enables every service request to have a consistent model to collect geolocation data and as a result, IT are not required to assist with its implementation.
Opinion Piece: The 3Ps of Digital
When it comes to the next generation of digital solutions for local government, providing predictive, proactive and personalised information will be key. You could call this the ‘three Ps’ for short or put simply, Digital 3.0. The outcome? A better customer experience and a reduced workload on the Council. But what do we mean by predictive, proactive and personalised?
Digital Backbone of ongoing transformation
The need for digital transformation is ongoing and recognising that changing demographics and economic pressures are constantly raising new challenges for public services is key. Local Authorities need to constantly reinvent their services, IEG4's OneVu can assist with the need to digitally transform services in local government.
Creating a Next Gen Blue Badge Service
The most challenging aspect of designing software for local government is in assuring flexibility across different ways of working and nuance of process; keeping most people happy most of the time. We talk you through the key challenges we faced in the design of our Digital Blue Badge Platform.
Politics, people and perfectionism stifling place based care
Paul Tomlinson argues that technology is not the inhibiting factor in the delivery of Place-Based Care. Rather, it’s politics, people and perfectionism that are stifling progress.
Preventing fraud and increasing automation
By leveraging real-time web service calls powered by smart credit reference agency functions, IEG4 have ensured fraud is removed and is prevented intelligently and that the many get their applications processed quicker.
How can you measure the success of digital services in local government?
What should be considered the destination or end game measure for digital transformation?
Closing the digital loop
Low code development made possible with a recipe book for change.
Digitising continuing healthcare from hospital to home
Delays in transferring patients out of the acute hospital setting to continuing care have hit the headlines during a difficult winter for the NHS. Resources are stretched to the limit, but digitising key processes which can facilitate this transfer of care could save millions and vastly improve the patient experience.
Six ways to build a successful customer self-service strategy
How can public sector organisations develop successful digital customer service strategies? John McMahon, product Director at IEG4, shares his thoughts on the subject
Building reusable council services
Service and providing the potential clients and customers with testimonials is one of the best ways to market.
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