New combined workforce data collection opens in April – is your organisation ready?

Social Care Wales and Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW) will launch a new combined workforce data collection on 1 April, making it easier than ever for providers to submit their data.

We and CIW have brought together our two annual data collections into a single shared process, which means social care providers now only have to collect and submit their data once.

Providers have previously been asked to submit two sets of data every year – one to CIW through the annual returns, and one to us through our annual workforce data collection.

Data will now only be collected through CIW's annual return process.

The data that’s collected includes information about workforce numbers, characteristics and working hours.

The new combined collection will not ask for any information which isn’t already collected as part of the two existing collections.

We’ll continue to produce a report each year which provides a picture of the size and characteristics of the social care workforce.

The data we collect is the only data collected on the entire social care workforce in Wales. Because of this, the report has a variety of different users. These include:

• Welsh and UK governments
• the Association of Directors of Social Services (ADSS) Cymru and local authorities
• regulators such as Care Inspectorate Wales and Social Care Wales
• care providers
• researchers
• the media
• members of the public.

Making sure we have the highest quality data to understand the social care workforce in Wales is incredibly important. Without good quality data, we can’t truly understand the shape and size of social care in Wales.

It also helps us get a better idea of where the demand for care is, in which types of provision, and to plan effectively for the future.

Good quality data enables us to make better decisions, based on evidence. This means we can help to deliver better care and support for people in Wales and provide better support for the hardworking staff who deliver it.

The unified collection will also support our commitment to the Performance and Improvement Framework for social care in Wales, by simplifying the work to gather high-quality data.

The new combined collection will be carried out through CIW’s existing annual return process. That means you’ll need a CIW Online account to submit your data.

If you're the data collector for your organisation or setting, you might be referred to as an 'organisational officer' by CIW, or you might need to be set up as an 'online assistant'. There's information about how Responsible Individuals and organisational officers can create and delegate to online assistants on the CIW website.

Responsible Individuals or organisational officers should log in to their CIW Online account before 1 April to make sure their service details are up to date, or create an account if needed. If you’re a social care provider who isn’t yet registered with CIW, please contact data@socialcare.wales to make sure you can continue to provide your valuable data.

Full details on how to submit data through the Annual Return process can be found on the CIW website.

The annual return window will close on 26 May.

If you’d like to know more about the new combined data collection, visit our annual workforce report page or contact data@social.care.wales.