Use our industry guide to find key background information, market research, import and export guidelines, statistics, legislation, trade bodies and trade publications.
The Business & Industry Guides series is produced by the Library & Information Service for ICAEW members and ACA students.
We can compile tailored key players reports, mailing lists, market reports, benchmarking reports and industry news. Our enquiry team can also research other industry-specific information, such as taxation, for you. Call us on +44 (0)20 7920 8620 or email library@icaew.com.
Trends and forecasts
Online articles
The library provides full access to articles from leading business, finance and management journals.
Access to articles is provided subject to suppliers’ terms of use.
Market research
Market research reports focusing on this business sector are available from a number of market research specialists. In most cases these reports are available to fee-paying subscribers or on a pay-as-you-go basis.
Industry profiles and SWOT analyses
Industry profiles give an overview of market size in different countries or regions, the competitive landscape and provide a forecast of market performance. These profiles are available for ICAEW members and ACA students through the Library & Information Service.
If you’re looking for industry profiles for regions or countries not listed above, please contact the Library on +44 (0)20 7920 8620 or email library@icaew.com.
SWOT analyses examining the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for major companies operating in this sector are available.
If you experience any problems accessing these resources, please see our online resources troubleshooting FAQ.
Other market research specialists
Some free information is available from the following market research specialists, ranging from industry news to executive summaries of the reports.
IBISWorld
Business and industry research specialists offering reports on a wide range of sectors, including a number of topics within human health and social work activities. Report snapshots, table of contents
and a sample report are available. The company also produces global industry research reports.
Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Research and development organisation specialising in social issues. Summaries and full reports are available to download.
Laing & Buisson
Listing and sample of reports and directories covering healthcare, community care, childcare and financial information on NHS trusts.
Mintel
Report from Mintel covering the UK private healthcare market. The website includes a summary and the option to view a contents listing.
Industry news
Statistics on the UK
NHS Digital
NHS Digital collates data across the health sector and includes:
- social care activity
- social care expenditure
- social care workforce
Office for National Statistics
The Office for National Statistics provides data on health and social care, including statistics on:
- causes of death;
- child health;
- conditions and diseases;
- disability;
- drug use, alcohol and smoking;
- health care system;
- health and life expectancy;
- health and well-being;
- mental health;
The Annual Business Survey (ABS) from the Office for National Statistics collects financial information covering UK production, construction, distribution and service industries. Statistics available include:
- number of enterprises;
- total turnover;
- approximate gross value added at basic prices;
- total purchases of goods, materials and services;
- total employment costs;
- total net capital expenditure;
- total net capital expenditure – acquisitions;
- total net capital expenditure – disposals;
- total stocks and work in progress – value at end of year;
- total stocks and work in progress – value at beginning of year;
- total stocks and work in progress – increase during year.
The dataset Non-financial business economy, UK: Sections A to S includes statistics for:
- Human health activities (86)
See Section Q: Human health and social work activities - Residential care activities (87)
See Section Q: Human health and social work activities - Social work activities without accommodation (88)
See Section Q: Human health and social work activities
Statistics on Europe
Eurostat
The European Commission's statistics hub, Eurostat, compiles a range of data on social protection in the EU including figures showing expenditure on care for the elderly.
Employment
UK
The annual Business Register and Employment Survey (BRES), published by the Office for National Statistics, includes total employee and employment estimates for different industries for Great Britain and the UK. Figures are broken down to show full-time/part-time and public/private splits. The dataset Industry – Business Register and Employment Survey (BRES): Table 2 includes statistics for:
- Human health activities (86)
- Residential care activities (87)
- Social work activities without accommodation (88)
The Office for National Statistics publication Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) includes average employment costs within this sector which can be found in Table 14. Average employment costs are provided for full-time employees, part-time employees and all employees.
The data includes average employment costs for:
- childcare and related personal services;
- healthcare and related personal services;
- nursing auxiliaries and assistants.
Other regions
Please see individual country profile pages for links to sources of national statistics.
Legislation and regulation
UK
The Care Quality Commission provides information on:
- legislation
- guidance on meeting the standards
- registering as a new provider of health or social care services.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has a section on health services, which includes latest regulations affecting this industry.
UK business guides
Atom Content Marketing guides
The Start Up Donut from Atom Content Marketing provides practical information on starting up and running a number of small business types. Guides cover a range of areas including market research, current trends, regulations, products and services, promotion and pricing. They include:
UK key players, ratios and trends
Valuation
UK benchmarking
Trade bodies
The websites of trade bodies in this sector are a useful source of industry overviews, contacts and statistics.
UK
- Care Quality Commission
- Care England
- Carers UK
- English Community Care Association
- Independent Children's Homes Association
- National Care Association
- Registered Nursing Home Association
- United Kingdom Homecare Association (UKHCA)
Europe
Americas
- American Association for Homecare
- Canadian Home Care Association
- National Association for Home Care & Hospice (US)
Oceania
Global
Trade journals and publications
Trade journals, B2B magazines and specialist consumer magazines are another useful source of news and statistics.
Further reading
Articles and books in the Library collection
To find out how you can borrow books from the Library please see our guide to book loans.
You can obtain copies of articles or extracts of books and reports by post or email through our document supply service.
Can't find what you're looking for?
The ICAEW Library can give you the right information from trustworthy, professional sources that aren't freely available online. Contact us for expert help with your enquiries and research.
Every effort has been made to ensure that the information given in this Business & Industry Guide is correct. However, the content of websites changes frequently and users should satisfy themselves that the information they contain is suitable for the purposes for which they wish to use it. We would be grateful to receive notification of any broken links at library@icaew.com.
ICAEW accepts no responsibility for the content on any site to which a hypertext link from this site exists. The links are provided ‘as is’ with no warranty, express or implied, for the information provided within them. Please see the full copyright and disclaimer notice.