Practice and policy that’s underpinned by innovation, research and data

We continued to lead the work around the:

• Strategic approach to social care data
• National social care data portal for Wales
• Social care research and development strategy.

We’ve also worked closely with a range of partners to support research communities of practice, capability building, sharing practice and innovation work.

In June 2022, we published the Social care workforce data report, which gives a clear picture of the workforce on 31 March 2021.

The report was based on data from all 22 local authorities and 2,173 settings or providers.

In May 2022, we launched a new ‘look and feel’ data portal, which has data about a range of social care services.

The portal is available for everyone, although its main audience is planners, local authority commissioners, researchers and people leading services.

In 2023, we’ll be adding more data to the portal to support workforce planning.

We began a long-term programme looking at how we can support social care innovation in Wales.

We set up a community of practice to support the use of evidence in designing social care services, which has more than 60 members.

During the year, we brought together partners and stakeholders to support the development of a new research, innovation and improvement strategy for social care. This will build on the Social care research and development strategy 2018 to 2023, in partnership with Health and Care Research Wales.

We want to create a culture where evidence is central to provision and used to inform decisions at all levels of social care. In 2023to 2024, we want to hear your views on the work that's been done so far.