Statistics

Transforming Social Care Data in Scotland

February 18, 2026 by Office of the Chief Statistician No Comments | Category Health and social care

Scotland’s social care system is undergoing a significant transformation in how data is collected, shared and used to improve outcomes for people using and delivering services in Scotland.

At the heart of this change is the Social Care Data Intelligence Programme Board (SCDIPB), consisting of representatives from across the social care sector who are leading efforts to modernise the national data landscape. Their vision is to create a future where Scottish social care benefits from trusted, high-quality data that reflects real experiences.

Why change is needed

Despite the richness of existing datasets, there are challenges too. Overlapping data collections, inconsistent definitions, gaps in the care pathways – especially around Social Work referrals and assessments to Adult Social Care – make it difficult to understand an individuals’ social care journey.

What has been agreed?

We will pursue a fundamental transformation of the data landscape, in collaboration with data providers and users. The initial phase includes a pause on some data collections to release capacity, a comprehensive review of the current landscape and a commitment to deliver a core minimum data set for care home data. This approach was informed by workshops involving key stakeholders including Public Health Scotland (PHS), Scottish Government (SG), COSLA, the Care Inspectorate, and the Scottish Social Services Council.

Scott Heald, Director of Data and Digital Innovation and Head of Statistics at Public Health Scotland said:

“The launch of this review will ensure that our data is responsive and effectively supports the social care sector. We want the data to be fit for purpose which is why reviewing current collections is an important step to take.

We aim to create efficiency and reduce the burden on data providers by making these changes and avoiding duplication in the sector.”

Angie Wood, Joint Chair of the Social Care Data Intelligence Programme Board said:

“These decisions present an excellent opportunity to develop social care data in a way that supports decisions makers and the people that use its services”

What is going to happen?

The data collections below are being changed as shown:

The national Source Social Care dataset is a quarterly extract of individual-level data on social care clients and the services and support they receive, collected by Public Health Scotland. The dataset will be reviewed to identify any overlaps, gaps or duplication with other collections, and how it can be adapted to meet the emerging needs of a wide range of users. This will include how we can exploit the Community Health Index (CHI) to enable the linkage of data to other sources to gain a richer understanding of the full health and social care pathway.

 Can you help?

We want to deliver change that supports people to deliver their roles, policy decisions, improves service planning and create a responsive, data-driven social care system.

Eddie Follan, Chief Officer for Health & Social Care at COSLA said:

“In order for us to have data that is responsive and supports our sector we need data providers, data users and analysis users to tell us what they need from social care data”.

Anyone who has faced challenges with using or providing social care data – your feedback is important. We are establishing user groups and a survey to take this work forward and to support your data needs.

Get in touch

Please get in touch by emailing SCDIPB@gov.scot if you would like to get involved or have any questions.

If you have any questions about the SOURCE social care dataset or the work of Public Health Scotland in this area, please contact phs.source@phs.scot.

Tags: social care

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