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Liquidlogic aims to cut down on abuse to young
THEIR full names are known by their abusers and the social workers who arrived too late.
But, if Denise Harrison, has her way, scandals like the case of Baby Peter, who died in his cot after suffering more than 50 injuries, will never happen again.
She's the co-founder of Leeds-based Liquidlogic which aims to stop child abuse by improving communication between care workers.
Liquidlogic's software provides an "early warning system" which already helps to protect around 100,000 vulnerable children.
Thanks to Liquidlogic, an alert can be triggered by a messaging system if two people raise concerns about a child in the space of a week.
As a result, steps can be taken by social services to take the child into care and ensure they are kept out of harm's way.
Liquidlogic's turnover has grown from 4.5m in 2006 to about 6.5m today as demand grows for a system which aims to prevent scandals like the death of Baby Peter and the torture and murder of Victoria Climbie.
Baby Peter was 17 months old when he died in Haringey, north London, at the hands of his mother, her boyfriend and their lodger in August 2007.
Eight-year-old Victoria died from abuse and neglect in 2000, also in Haringey, in spite of the fact that she was seen by dozens of social workers, doctors and police officers in the months before her death.
Ms Harrison, who is Liquidlogic's sales and marketing director, stresses that the system is not a substitute for the skills of trained professionals.
But it could help to improve social workers' performance by enabling them to raise the alarm.
She said: "We focus on areas where professionals could intervene earlier if they had an understanding of the factors that affect the child's life, before they are referred to social services.
"It's all about early intervention.
"May be a teacher is concerned about the child's behaviour, or it may be the child is already known to the police, albeit in a fairly minor way.
"It may be the family circumstances means there are connections with drug and alcohol problems or domestic violence.
"All these things are indicators of danger levels and potential vulnerability.
"It can work in a number of ways. You can send an item to a social worker's desk top, rather like a very sophisticated email system, or you can send a text message to a mobile phone."
So far, Liquidlogic provides support to 42 children services departments across Britain; a figure which is expected to grow in response to the Government's Every Child Matters programme.
Liquidlogic's software will help local councils to work with the police, schools and hospitals to share information about troubled children.
Ms Harrison added: "We need the right protocols in place that allow people to share information without making them feel that they might be sharing it inappropriately. That's very much at the heart of what we do."
Earlier this month, the Government announced a 58m plan to "transform" social services in the wake of the Baby Peter scandal.
Children's Secretary Ed Balls outlined a six-point plan to improve services in response to Lord Laming's independent report, which accused councils of failing to implement recommended reforms.
Mr Balls said he was committed to ensuring "greater openness", enabling the public to scrutinise child protection agencies.
The Government will also invest more in training and support for front-line services.
Ms Harrison also believes that Liquidlogic can play a significant role in helping the public sector to cope with the ageing population.
We all want to enjoy good health for as long as possible. Liquidlogic's software could help us to spend more of our retirement at home.
Ms Harrison added: "We've made great inroads into the children's services market, where we're now the second largest provider.
"We're now going to expand our presence into adult social care.
"A year ago we launched our integrated adult system which has been very well received. We have 12 customers implementing that.
"Delivery of services to the elderly community is going to present us with a lot of opportunities, particularly with an ageing population.
"If you look at vulnerable adults, particularly the elderly, they are receiving services from a number of agencies, predominantly social care and community health services.
"We can improve communication between the various health agencies.
"For example, when an old person goes into hospital you can start planning what will happen when they are discharged, so you have the infrastructure in place to help them.
"We can reduce the amount of time elderly people spend in hospital. All the evidence points to the outcome being better for people if they are looked after in the community."
Liquidlogic was co-founded by Ms Harrison and Ted Brierley in 2000. They had previously run another software company, Image Systems Europe, which was sold for 4m.
Part of the proceeds were used to create Liquidlogic, which employs 70 people and is based in a manor house on the outskirts of Leeds. Ms Harrison said: "We need to look at sustainable growth, which we can achieve without compromising the quality of service.
"We are in the fortunate position of not having any debt and not having to pay any institutional investors. We are in charge of our own destiny."
Other markets on Liquidlogic's radar are pharmaceuticals and financial services, both sectors where collaboration can make companies more competitive.
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Saturday 11 February 2012
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