Social care data collection to be revamped

The government has announced a revamp to social care data collection methods to improve the way that care and support is measured.

Data is to be collected by the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) and published annually, with the statistics demonstrating the results people who use care and support have been able to achieve, rather than counting activities and processes.

Other changes that will be rolled out in the next two years include a new safeguarding collection, a data item on staff qualifications to be added to the National Minimum Data Set for Social Care and revamped social care activity and finance collections.

The Department of Health has agreed to give local authorities an extra 11.13 million pounds of funding for implementation of these measures.

Care and support minister Norman Lamb said: "The new data will help us to see how each council is performing in delivering better results for people in local communities who use care."

Earlier this month, the government also confirmed the introduction of a new fairer capped funding system to make it easier for patients to plan for the cost of care.