New website to compare social services

A new website designed to help people examine how their local social services are performing has gone live today.

Developed jointly by the Health and Social Care Information Centre and the Department of Health, the website allows users to see how local councils score against criteria set for social service delivery by the Department of Health in its Adult Social Care Outcomes Framework2.

Users can see local data on topics such as: how satisfied users are with social services; ‘quality of life’ scores for social service users; how well carers feel they are included in discussions about the person they care for; and delays on transfers of care from hospitals.

They can also see how their local authority compares with similar councils and the national average.

The HSCIC says the website should be used by recipients of adult social care services, carers, the general public and voluntary and community organisations, as well as social care professionals.

HSCIC chair Kingsley Manning said the information centre collates and publishes a huge variety of data on health and social care and is determined to make it accessible to as many different people as possible.

“We hope that this website will prove another step forward in putting the power of information into the public’s hands, allow them better to understand how their local council is performing on social care,” he said.