First ever Adult Social Care Outcomes Framework published

The first figures for the new adult social care outcomes framework have been published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC).

The report includes data for 14 measures which are designed to enable users to compare the effectiveness of care delivered by councils responsible for adult social care services.

Six of the measures which form part of the Adult Social Care Outcomes Framework (ASCOF) are drawn from the provisional results from the second year of England’s biggest social care survey – the Adult Social Care Survey for England – which is also published today.

It shows that nearly two thirds of service users (63 per cent) were either extremely or very satisfied with the care they received – similar to the previous year.

HSCIC chief executive Tim Straughan said: “The new framework is intended to give an indication of the strengths and weaknesses of social care and its effectiveness in delivering better outcomes for people who use such services.

“It provides another rich source of information to help people build a fuller understanding of the vital and complex world of social care activity. This information can be considered alongside other HSCIC resources, such as the information published today in two other reports.

“One of those reports, the Adult Social Care Survey, is now into its second year and starting to offer an early picture of the evolving views of social care users about important elements of their lives. Provisional data from the second year of the survey points to little significant change in such views in 12 months.”

The HSCIC has also published a third report today; Social Services Activity, England – 2011-12 Provisional release, which looks at council activity in relation to assessing the need for and providing state-funded social care services. This also feeds into the Framework.

Adult Social Care Outcomes Framework 2011-12 Provisional Release is at: www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/adultsocialcareoutcomes1112