1. Wmrdc activity and outcome database Where did it come from? ………This project has evolved from a conference that focused on rural suicide. A recurring theme of that day was that smaller/medium sized organisations, found it difficult to become commissioned due to not having the capacity to develop the necessary systems to capture the information/outcomes that commissioners wanted. The other issue was that commissioners needed to know that organisations had robust governance. This comes at a time when the government would like to see the Third Sector increasing the amount of services they provide to offer a greater choice to individuals who access services - within a mixed market economy.

2. What does it do…? What does it do ? ………….The database will support Third Sector organisations to demonstrate and describe their value, cost effectiveness and outcomes. The management information it will provide will support organisations in their decisions regarding funding, finances, service costs, governance and project delivery/workload. The database should be of use to all client groups within health and social care services, and is of course free at source and designed to be user friendly.

3. HOW WAS IT DEVELOPED ? How was it developed ? The project has been jointly developed within CSIP West Midlands with support from the Public Health Group of Government Office West Midlands, by a project team spanning specialists from Suicide Prevention, Mental Health Promotion, Third Sector, Commissioning and Public Health – along with the organisations who are currently piloting the resource. (A big thank you to Worcestershire Lifestyles, the Rural Emotional Support Team and the Project Group). The database has also been aligned to, and designed to support the Department of Health’s draft Third Sector baseline standards project.

4. For commissioners / funders: Information about the number of clients that have been referred, assessed, supported, signposted to other services the sources of referral and discharge / closure. The improvement in clients / service user's well being as rated by the clients themselves using both local and evidence based rating scales (such as the Warwickshire and Edinburgh Measurements of well Being Scale (WEMWEBS), Health of our Nation Outcome Survey (HoNoS), etc) Statistical reports on length of engagement, level and types of service provided to clients. Costs per clients shown as average costs with full range of costs and financial deviations. Appropriate and legal organisational arrangements (such as registered charity, limited company etc.) Quality assurance systems of the service organisation (such as records of staff competencies, healthy and safety arrangements, insurances - public liability and employee. Policies underpinned by quality standards (such as equal opportunities, data protection etc.) Required human resources arrangements (such as staff support and training arrangements, criminal records bureau checks for staff etc.) The range of identified clients needs showing those which can be met and those which cannot be met by the service organisation.

5. FAQs FAQ’S Access based – simplest platform 2gb size (Or 4 gb with free download of SQL server express) context …similar database with 24,000 records was 8mb..or 0.4 % of 2 gb….it’s scalable …you are unlikely to run of room Can be scaled up further via MY SQL http://www.wmrdc.org.uk/mental- health/commissioning/third-sector/third-sector- resources/activity-and-outcomes- database/activity-and-outcomes-database-faqs/http://www.wmrdc.org.uk/mental- health/commissioning/third-sector/third-sector- resources/activity-and-outcomes- database/activity-and-outcomes-database-faqs/

6. IT’S AS GOOD A SYSTEM AS MANY ORGANISATIONS COULD SPEND A LOT OF MONEY ON…. IT’S FREE TO DOWN LOAD SOME COMMISSIONERS ARE BUILDING IT INTO SLAs AS A MUST DO SOME COMMISSIONERS ARE PAYING ADDITIONAL MONEY TO PROVIDERS TO USE IT AS THE QUALITY OF INFO THEY WILL GET IN RETURN IS BETTER

7. http://www.wmrdc.org.uk/mental- health/commissioning/third-sector/third- sector-resources/activity-and-outcomes- database/activity-and-outcomes- downloads/http://www.wmrdc.org.uk/mental- health/commissioning/third-sector/third- sector-resources/activity-and-outcomes- database/activity-and-outcomes- downloads/ Paul.dodd@wmrdc.org.uk Nick.adams@wmrdc.org.uk