Data Standards Development

Care providers, healthcare institutions and local government bodies collect information critical to the delivery of care. However, this information is often collected in inconsistent, ‘non-standard’ formats. This means that a person’s circumstances or needs can’t easily be shared between IT systems in different organisations which makes it difficult for people in those organisations to provide joined-up care.

Adopting a social care data standard will help to solve this problem.

The DiSC team are developing data standards for the health and social care community that will enable local communities, service providers, and individuals to share information quickly, easily and safely. Data standards will provide the sector with:

• ‘best practice’ for data in social care

• a common glue that allows parties/actors to share information

• reduction in the burden of data entry and data duplication

• clearer communication between services

• more efficient IT development with less of a need to “reinvent the wheel”

• reduction in overheads and inconsistencies mapping data for integration and reporting

• ability to integrate novel innovative assistive technology

• increased quality of care

Standards will be published alongside other relevant data standards through the digital social care catalogue, creating:

• a new “home” for social care data standards

• an environment where standards can be developed “in the open”

• a capability to iterate and develop new standards

• a service desk to support users and collect feedback

So that the community can find and understand existing standards, as well as contribute and input into new standards.