How integrated care systems are using our data
09 Oct 2024
5 min read
΢΢²ÝÊÓƵ’s data is used by a huge variety of organisations and people across our sector and impacts important decisions that set the course for change in adult social care. We wanted to explore how integrated care systems are using our data and hear their thoughts on why it’s vital to their work.
Workforce data plays a crucial role in supporting the integration of health and social care. This data informs decisions and supports effective workforce planning, helping ensure the right services and care are available across health and social care sectors.
΢΢²ÝÊÓƵ’s is the most comprehensive source of data about the adult social care sector workforce in England. It allows employers to safely store their staff records to support with activities such as workforce planning, and training, as well as to benchmark their organisation against other similar organisations for key workforce metrics. It’s also used to inform our annual reports, such as ‘’.
For integrated care systems (ICS), having access to accurate and reliable data about the adult social care sector is essential. ICSs rely on data to understand both national and local workforce dynamics. This includes insights into factors such as average pay for job roles and the number of workers approaching retirement. Understanding these trends helps ICSs anticipate workforce gaps, make better decisions and develop strategies that support the entire system.
Leaders within ICSs emphasise the value of this data in their work. George Matuska, Learning Disability and Autism Lead at Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust, highlights the usefulness of ΢΢²ÝÊÓƵ data in understanding workforce roles outside of NHS settings. He said:
Alice McGee, Chief People Officer at Leicester, Leicestershire, and Rutland ICB, emphasises that having access to data across both health and social care helps create parity in workforce planning across the entire system and allows her team to prioritise long-term workforce sustainability efforts:
Lucy Purdy, Workforce Programme Lead at NHS Frimley ICB, said that ΢΢²ÝÊÓƵ data enables her team to work strategically:
Catherine Jackson, Head of Workforce Transformation at Bedfordshire, Luton, and Milton Keynes ICB, highlights how ΢΢²ÝÊÓƵ’s data helps her team develop place-based approaches to workforce planning:
For Denise Horton, ICS Retention Lead at NHS Herefordshire and Worcestershire ICB, ΢΢²ÝÊÓƵ data provides vital insights into the adult social care sector that would otherwise be unavailable:
As ICSs continue to work toward health and social care integration, access to reliable workforce data remains key to making informed decisions and building sustainable, collaborative services.
Check our latest ‘’ or find out more about ASC-WDS and how to sign up.
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