Department of Health publish interactive map of adult social services

A new interactive online map has been released which allows people to compare the quality of adult services in their area to other parts of the country.

People can select their local authority on the map or type in their postcode on the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) website to see how their local authority is performing.

Adult Social Care Outcomes Framework (ASCOF) data has been used to create the map which provides information about how carers and people receiving local authority funded care rate the services on offer in their area.

Services which they have rated include the quality of their life, the satisfaction with care services and how safe service users feel.

Care and support Minister Norman Lamb said: “We want people to be able to know how well their local authority is performing. This will highlight those councils doing really well, but it will also enable people to hold their council to account if it fails to deliver good results from adult social care services, such as helping people to live independently or giving them genuine choice and control over their care and support.

“This online tool will provide people with the information they need to do this in a clear, accessible format.

“We want everyone to get better care and I hope this website will help to drive improvement across all local authorities so that this is a reality.”

The map also shows how local authority areas compare to the overall England average. On average just over three quarters of users of social care feel they have control over their daily life, and 64 per cent of people are satisfied with the support they receive.

However it also revealed on average only 42 per cent of carers are satisfied with the support they and the person they care for have received from Social Services in the last 12 months. The interactive map now shows how local authorities compare to these averages in an accessible way.

The data for the interactive map is based on HSCIC data sets from 2012 to 2013. Final data will be added on 17 December 2013.

To find out more about the interactive map visit: http://ascof.hscic.gov.uk/