Skills for Care is the leading source of workforce intelligence for the adult social care sector. They round-up where to find key data sources and reports which social care providers can use to support workforce planning.
Data is incredibly useful in helping everyone – from Government, to commissioners, to service managers – to understand the current landscape of a sector as complex as social care.
That’s why providing the leading source of workforce intelligence about the adult social care sector in England is a core part of our work at Skills for Care.
The data we receive from providers via the Adult Social Care Workforce Data Set (ASC-WDS) and the reports that we produce play an important role in supporting the Government and other key stakeholders in making decisions for the sector. They can also be used by social care managers to plan for your workforce in both the short and long-term.
We know that people working in social care are stretched for time, so we’ve rounded up some of the go-to sources for keeping on top of new data and reports from the sector.
Adult Social Care Workforce Data Set
The Adult Social Care Workforce Data Set (ASC-WDS) is a free online service, currently used by around 20,000 care providers. ASC-WDS offers one place for you to store your staff records, including information about training and qualifications.
Using ASC-WDS can help you to keep on top of what roles and skills you have within your team and help you to identify any gaps you need to fill to support the growth of your team and organisation. It can also help to plan learning and development for your staff, with the ability to define mandatory training for different job roles and alerts when training is missing, expiring soon or out of date.
You can also use ASC-WDS to benchmark your organisation against similar providers for factors such as pay and turnover rates, which can help you to make decisions around pay and rewards and any changes to your recruitment and retention processes.
Find out more about ASC-WDS and sign-up.
The ‘State of the adult social care sector and workforce in England’ report
Using the data that care providers contribute through ASC-WDS, Skills for Care publishes an annual ‘State of the adult social care sector and workforce in England’ report. This report gives a comprehensive overview of the current landscape of the adult social care sector, looking at issues such as vacancy rates, pay, the number of people working in the sector and across different roles, the demographics of the workforce, turnover, retention, progression, and projections for the workforce of the future.
This year’s report was published in October and is filled with useful insights which employers can use to think about workforce planning. It can help you think about areas to focus on now and in the future to best meet the needs of people who draw on care and support. As well as the full online report, there’s also interactive visualisations which make it easy to view the key stats.
Regional reports
Skills for Care also produces local reports which break down detailed information for each region and allows you to see a clear picture of the sector in your local area. The data is available by region, local authority area and integrated care system area. You can even compare two or more local areas side by side.
This can help employers to analyse how their organisation and workforce compares to others in your local area. It can help you to spot localised opportunities for growth, for example areas to specialise in where there’s a gap of provision or a growing demand in your area. It can also help you to consider opportunities for growth by moving into other areas.
Department of Health and Social Care
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) regularly updates its website with news, reports, and policy updates related to health and social care. This can help providers keep up-to-date with any changes in policy they need to be aware of, and make workforce plans around any proposed changes for the sector.
Currently DHSC is providing information to support with winter planning, which is an important consideration for all social care managers right now.
King’s Fund
The King’s Fund is an English health charity that shapes health and social care policy and practice.
Their website regularly publishes independent reports, research, and blogs from across the sector, covering topics including COVID-19, capacity, health inequalities, technology, and integrated care systems.
This is a good source for keeping updated with a wide range of perspectives around issues that could impact on your organisation.
Visit the King’s Fund website.
The Health Foundation
The Health Foundation is an independent charity committed to bringing about better health and health care for people in the UK. The charity produces research reports and long-read articles that can be found on their website covering a broad range of issues about the social care and health sector. A recent report looked at public perceptions of health and social care, and they also provide information about the ongoing impact of COVID-19.
This research can play an important role in helping you to understand the current landscape of the sector and how this feeds into your everyday work.
Find more support for planning for now and the future on the Skills for Care website.
