Researchers at The University of Sunderland have successfully linked administrative data on children and young people with SEND.True Colours is funding a research project into how the needs of disabled children and young people are identified and supported by health, education and social care services.
Data on disabled children is typically held separately, by a range of services including health agencies, education settings and social care services. If this data can be brought together, it gives a detailed picture of the number and needs of disabled children. However, the vast majority of areas in the UK do not link data, meaning each agency may only have a partial picture.
Linked data can be used to learn about specific populations of children. True Colours and NIHR, School of Public Health Research are now jointly funding a research project exploring how the needs of children and young people with learning disabilities are identified and met by health,education and social care.
The team has also produced a resource documenting ‘best practice’ in linking health, social care and education data, outlining their learning from the project and to help other local areas link their data.
More information about the work can be found here.
