Integration of health and social care is the Scottish Government’s ambitious programme of reform to improve services for people who use health and social care services. This will require the integration of data sources to support effective work practices and evaluation both locally and nationally. Furthermore, there is increasing recognition inside and outside academia that integrated health and social care data are required to inform service delivery and policy in order to improve public health and wellbeing.
A number of groups around Scotland have started to link health and social care data for academic or analytical purposes.
Some progress has been made nationally and locally to link health and social care data. However there are still some significant challenges, particularly around understanding the data, having the analytical expertise, understanding stakeholder needs, communicating with data providers and the public.
Linking and Using Health & Social Care Data in Scotland: Charting a Way Forward
