How our data is used to drive positive change in adult social care

We talk about how our ASC-WDS data is creating positive change through policy, benchmarking and supporting the sector.

Earlier this month, we published our latest ‘The state of the adult social care sector and workforce in England, 2024’ report. It shares the culmination of months of data analysis to create insights into the breadth of adult social care services and job roles. It looks at things like the types and number of job roles making up the workforce, how many people leave their jobs each year and training and qualifications take up.

The data reflets the diversity and variety of adult social care services being provided across the sector and the estimated 1.59m people working in it. It is thanks to the quality and volume of data that many people and organisations rely on it to drive positive change in the sector. Here are some of the ways this is happening each year.

Informing policy and planning

There are many ways Skills for Care is helping the Government to understand social care and using data to drive change. It’s done through:

• response to formal inquiries and government reviews
• ministerial briefings
• direct requests for information from our analysis team.

Immigration policy is an interesting example. In 2021, the Migration Advisory Committee approached us to help with their review of the impact of ending freedom of movement. We provided data that highlighted the important role that non-British workers play in our sector. Then in 2022, the Government confirmed that social care workers would be made eligible for the Health and Care Worker Visa.

Following those changes, Skills for Care did some analysis on international recruitment for the Secretary of State – to help them understand the link between the high international recruitment inflows and the vacancy rate in the sector. We’re now publishing quarterly data on this topic to help show the trends that are happening.

Then, in February 2024, we finished testing some new questions to include as part of our data collection about international recruitment, on behalf of the Department of Health and Social Care. This meant they were able to find out more granular detail about who is using Health and Social Care visas (that they don’t get from the Home Office). It included looking at things like the job roles that these people are doing and what types and sizes of organisations they are working for.

Measuring the impact of reform

We also get asked if our data can help measure the impact of specific reforms. For example, we collect information about how many people have been interviewed for care worker roles. This is used as a metric to gauge the impact of recruitment campaigns and policies which aim to make the social care a more attractive career.

Last year, we worked with the NHS Transformation Directorate to add digital jobs roles and training into our data set so they’ll be able to monitor the impact of their work to improve digital use in the sector.

Advocating for change

Trade associations and other bodies use the data in their role as advocates for change. For example, the Sector Pulse Check by Care England and Hft used our data combined with a survey of their members to highlight some of the current issues providers are facing. It then recommends practical actions that the Government, commissioners, and other stakeholders can take to relieve some of the issues.

These include:

• reforming VAT
• establishing national commissioning standards
• making international recruitment more accessible
• increasing representation of adult social care on integrated care boards.

Vic Rayner OBE, the Chief Executive Officer of the National Care Forum testifies to the importance of using robust and impactful data in their role advocating for change. She told us that ‘using data and information… to tell a picture of what’s happening on the front line... is great power to us in being able to ensure the voice of social care and the importance and relevance of the social care workforce is heard loud and clear across government and the wider public and media.’

Increasing public awareness

Increasing public support for social care is an important step in ensuring the sector remains at the forefront for the Government. Our data gets quite a lot of media attention to help achieve this. Within a week of releasing one of our flagship reports last year, the data had been referenced in over 220 news stories and publications. It featured on the BBC Breakfast programme, BBC radio stations and Sky News and the Channel 4 programme Help!

Supporting providers locally

We know that local authorities, integrated care boards and care associations use the local level data to inform commissioning and support providers in their areas. Rupert Milsom from the Northwest Surrey Alliance said:

“As a place-based provider collaborative, adult social care is one of the areas that it is hardest for us to gain unified insights. The insights that come from ASC-WDS are a vital window for us to understand the actions that we can take to support the development of this workforce and sector.”

Read more about how our data is being used for local decision making or how integrated care systems are using our data.

Improvements for care providers

Care providers also use our data to benchmark quality improvements in their services. Using the Adult Social Care Workforce Data Set, providers can see where they rank against local competitors on metrics like pay, vacancy rates and turnover.

Managers have told us that the insights have prompted them to make changes like increasing their pay rates, bringing in a new in-house trainer and increasing the amount of shadowing for new starters. They’re then using their data to measure the impact of these changes.

Data can also give ideas to help providers make improvements in their services. Our latest report includes a section looking into the factors affecting staff turnover and CQC ratings. As an example, it identifies that staff were more likely to leave their posts soon after entering their role and that retention was better for staff who received training. This highlights the importance of well-planned induction and ongoing training practices in staff retention.

When it comes to higher CQC ratings, it identifies factors like higher care worker pay, greater care worker uptake of the Care Certificate Standards and having a registered manager with more experience in their role as important.

Want to be a part of shaping the future?

Our data and insights come from over 20,000 care providers who use the Adult Social Care Workforce Data Set. It’s an opportunity to make your voice heard and there are also some great opportunities for your workplace. You can claim funding towards training your staff, manage information about your workers and their training, benchmark against other local providers and access special discounts and offers.

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