Improved bulk upload tool launched for National Minimum Data Set for Social Care

News release 21 July 2011

After consultation with employers, Skills for Care has launched an improved bulk upload tool to make it easier for large employers to add large amounts of their data to the National Minimum Data Set for Social Care (NMDS-SC).

The improvements to the Bulk Uploading Data Items (BUDI) facility includes the introduction of a Unique Worker ID which means the system won't automatically replace all worker records when an upload takes place.

A status column has also been added to set each record within an organisation to reflect whether it is an update, a new record, a deletion, a change and if any particular record had not been checked.

The updates now allow the qualification code and the year into the same cell, which can be repeated in separate cells for each qualification achieved by that particular worker.

The old version of the Bulk Upload tool will continue to be accepted for six months to ensure users have time to change any systems or processes they may have in place.

All guidance documents have been updated and you can find these by going to the resources section on the NMDS-SC website.

If users have any questions regarding BUDI please contact the NMDS-SC Helpdesk on 0845 873 0129, which is open Monday to Friday 8:30am - 5:30pm

Media enquiries:

Paul Clarke: 0113 2411297/ 07977519287. paul.clarke@skillsforcare.org.uk

Notes to editors:

1. Skills for Care is the employment-led strategic body for workforce development in adult social care in England, which is licensed jointly with its UK allies by UKCES to be the 'Skills for Care and Development' Sector Skills Council (SSC). Both organisations are chaired by Professor David Croisdale-Appleby. The other members of the SSC are the Children's Workforce Development Council (also for England), the General Social Care Council, the Scottish Social Services Council, the Care Council for Wales, and the Northern Ireland Social Care Council.
2. Skills for Care forms a strategic overview of workforce needs in adult social care, which accounts for nearly 1.6 million workers or 5 per cent of England's workforce, spread over 40,600 establishments employing care staff. Skills for Care members are drawn from groups representing public, private and voluntary sector care employers, along with representatives of staff, trainers, service users and informal carers. Social care includes residential care, domiciliary care and social work with all its specialisms.
3. Skills for Care and its SSC allies promote and develop the social care sector's National Occupational Standards which are statements of competence that describe 'best practice'.
4. Skills for Care regional committees are major brokers of funding for social care workforce development.