Update on our approach to social care data

Our discovery report describes social care data in Wales and the areas that need improvement.

Our statement of strategic intent brings together organisations who want to improve how data is collected and used in social care in Wales. It describes our aims for social care data and identifies eight priority areas of work. We’ve started work in each area and have made progress against our objectives.

We have:

• developed how we talk to people in Wales about the use of health and care data, along with our partners Welsh Government and Digital Health and Care Wales
  
• agreed how we would work with Digital Health and Care Wales for the National Data Resource programme and social care in Wales
  
• we’ve helped local authorities to share their data with SAIL and the Networked Data Lab and looked at how an information sharing gateway might help to administer data sharing
  
• improved the way we collect data about the social care workforce in Wales
  
• created guidelines for local authorities who want to share data
  
• re-designed our National social care data portal for Wales and improved its data, how it works and how its used
  
• published the report, Scoping a professional development framework for social care data analysts in Wales, which looks at the data workforce in local authority services, and started a series of data skills projects
  
• worked with Digital Health and Care Wales to provide their foundation level analytics learning programme with KPMG.

By April 2023 we’re hoping to:

• work with an experienced organisation to help us to talk to people across Wales about health and care data
  
• continue our work with ADSS Cymru to set our data priorities for local authority social services in Wales
  
• work with local authorities to understand if they’re prepared for the National Data Resource programme
  
• continue our work with the Networked Data Lab and strengthen our approach to linking administrative data, by working with SAIL and Welsh Government’s Administrative Data Research Unit (ADRU)
  
• continue to develop the National social care data portal for Wales, together with our users
  
• work with local authorities to define data standards for social care data
  
• deliver two ‘alpha’ projects for data analytics skills
  
• publish regular updates about the work of the data strategy.

• Download the full report, Delivering a strategic approach to social care data in Wales – September 2022 update and next steps.

• Download the Strategic approach to social care data, quick wins summary.