What is this resource?
This is a set of data definitions which expands the existing data dictionary of healthcare workforce definitions to incorporate social care specific definitions. The documents within this resource are owned and maintained by Skills for Care who administer the collection of data from employers which provides an overview of the whole sector.
For workforce information to be meaningful, data definitions must be consistent across health and social care. Detailed analysis has shown that there are variations in terms of availability, quantity and quality of some social care information held by NHS organisations.
Partnership working between Skills for Health - Workforce Projects Team and Skills for Care produced a set of job role definitions which underpin the National Minimum Dataset for Social Care (NMDS-SC) and builds on the national workforce data definitions to provide consistency across the health and social care sectors.
What is in this resource?
The main document here is the NMDS-SC itself which consists of a set of data items, sub-items and classifications, in two parts:
Part 1 relates to social care-providing establishments
Part 2 relates to individual workers
The data set is supported by two questionnaires used to collect the data, as the data set is not a collection tool itself.
Further clarification of data items can be found within the NMDS-SC Job Roles document.
Who is this useful for?
This set of documents is aimed at workforce and service planners within the social care sector but it also provides useful information for healthcare workforce planners in that there are similar roles or overlaps between job roles in both sectors.
How will this help me and my organisation?
Use of the data definitions provides clarity and consistency across the NHS and social care workforce.
Other benefits of using the documents here are:
Identifies the skills in your workforce
enables creation of training and development plans for staff which reflect the national minimum standards
Identifies skills shortages
Enables planners and funders to target areas of investment when considering economic and educational capacity issues.
Additionally, for many small employers the NMDS-SC will be used as an internal record of services, staff, skills and qualifications.
How do I use this resource?
The data set is most useful as a reference document, to turn to when you need clarity about a job role definition. The questionnaires and guidance documents are used by Skills for Care to collect data about the social care workforce.
Latest news on this resource
All ongoing maintenance of these documents are published by Skills for Care
Is there any specific copyright I need to be aware of?
These documents are copyright protected by Skills for Care.
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Social Care Data Definitions
