SSAFA digitises Redbook for MOD families posted overseas

09 September 2021

SSAFA has worked with Sitekit to help digitise the Personal Child Health Record, or ‘red book’, to allow Forces families to access personal and development records wherever they are.

SSAFA provides Community Health Services, such as Health Visiting, Midwifery, Speech & Language Therapy, and School Health services for UK military families posted overseas to locations including Cyprus, Gibraltar, and Kenya.

The SSAFA Community Health team collaborated with Sitekit to develop functionality within the eRedbook to support the transition of families to overseas postings. The team did this by enabling the secure and controlled flow of data from parents using eRedbook to members of the community health team, as well as providing information to families via eRedbook ahead of their move.

The eRedbook is a digital parent-held health and development record which allows you to access your child’s personal health and development records wherever you are. This is an extremely beneficial service for Forces families who may move often and need to access their children’s records without having to carry bulky paper records.

The new functionality allows professional users, with the appropriate user permissions, to send questionnaires to the child’s eRedbook record. The questionnaires are fully configurable by the SSAFA Community Health Team in the destination country enabling SSAFA to request key relevant information ahead of the families move in order to improve the quality of their transition. 

Jan Dowlen-Gilliland, Director of Community Healthcare Operations, SSAFA said: “The work undertaken in partnership with Sitekit demonstrates our commitment to ensuring that our military families have access to the best possible care and support wherever in the world they are posted.  We are extremely proud to be at the forefront of digitising child health records, and also finding innovative solutions to support families during what can be a stressful transition to an overseas posting.”

Jill de Bene, CEO at Sitekit, said: “As a Mum you often feel worried and alone, posted overseas at a military posting can make this much more acute. Sitekit are delighted to have collaborated with SAFFA to ensure that the eRedbook can provide key information to the SSAFA families wherever they are and especially as they are moving. Sitekit are proud to be known as a company who collaborates to make people’s health care better connected and informed.”