What is the project about?

Over the course of this 18-month pilot project, we will be scoping and testing the use of a data standard to collate as many community support offers as possible from across Dorset. Open Referral UK (ORUK) provides a data standard that supports organisations to create a single source of truth. This is not intended to replace existing directories but to support their development to fit the needs of the community by sharing data as a sector.

The overall aim is for frontline workers to be able to easily access and signpost community support to help individuals, patients, and service users. Alongside existing directories, we are also developing a new tool called Service Finder to enable signposting & supporting of patients to access community support & services for the pan-Dorset Suicide Prevention Programme and Serious Mental Illness Physical Health Project.

This is an NHS Dorset commissioned and funded piece of work with CAN under the Serious Mental Illness (SMI) Physical Health Project, as part of the outreach workstream. If you would like more information about the project and future direction of travel please contact: Suzanne.Green@nhsdorset.nhs.uk

Why join?

As an organisation it can be frustrating having to update your information in multiple places, especially when services can morph and adapt so quickly. We hope to remove this need by having a single point of access for all service updates, that will then be shared across the many directories locally.

We feel your valuable time and resource should be focused on the great work that you do for the community, and we know that technology can help us make that happen!

How do I register my organisation or group to be part of the project?

We are beginning to populate the data set for organisations offering services to the local community, in Bournemouth, Christchurch, Poole and wider Dorset.

Click here to find out more about submitting service and session information.

Can you tell us more about Open Referral UK?

Open Referral UK have defined a standard data structure for information about services, providing a consistent way of gathering and using data. Since February 2022, Open Referral UK has been an internationally recognised standard and its use is recommended for all UK public systems in NHS, Local Government and Department of Education.