Social care

How many people receive social care

Figures for adult social services in England are put together by the National Adult Social Care Intelligence Service (NASCIS), published by NHS Digital. This contains information on how many referrals and assessments for social care there have been, and how many adults live in residential care paid for by councils, as well as information on the abuse of vulnerable adults.

Information on the number of people taking up various adult social care services is published in the annual community care statistics release, which provides a breakdown by local authority.

How much is spent on social care

How much councils spend on social care is detailed in the annual personal social services expenditure figures which are published by NHS Digital. This data shows the average weekly spend per person along with other local financial statistics.

The same release also includes national level data – how much is spent on social care, the age of those being cared for and the type of care they need. This release covers care for the disabled, for the mentally ill and for asylum seekers.

Staffing and salaries

The number of people working in social services departments, broken down by age, sex, ethnicity, job role, employer and local area is NHS Digital. Their average annual salaries are published in the same place.

Patient experience

The experience of people using adult social care services is captured by the annual Adult Social Care Survey, published by NHS Digital.

This asks users questions about themselves and their experience such as: their quality of life and whether social care services improve it, whether they feel safe and comfortable, how much contact they receive from services and whether they feel they’re treated with dignity.

The data is broken down by age, gender, ethnicity, client group (for instance physical, mental or learning disability) and the type of treatment received.

The Adult Social Care Outcomes Framework also uses information from a variety of sources to put together a picture of how well social care services provide what matters to people who use them. NHS Digital also publishes information on how many people in the care system have been referred to authorities because they are at risk.

The Care Quality Commission provides an annual report on the state of health and social care across England. This includes information on the outcomes of inspections across the year.