Digital Care Hub March Newsletter
News
First ever Cyber Game launched for Social Care staff
We have launched the first-ever Cyber Game designed specifically for adult social care providers!
Offering a free, fun and engaging way to learn about cyber security and data protection.
Players can take on the role of a registered manager, a data protection lead or a care worker dealing with realistic cyber threats. Each scenario is based on actual cyber incidents. The aim is to manage the crisis effectively. Just as in real life, the decisions you make will impact security, time and cost. It is all about balancing risks and impact.
Get Involved
Digitising Social Care website survey
The Digitising Social Care team are reaching out to users to gather your feedback on the current design and content of the Digitising Social Care (DiSC) website.
The aim is to understand how to improve the website to best meet your needs and those across adult social care.
We would be grateful if you could take 10 minutes of your time to complete the user feedback survey, available until 7 March 2025. Your feedback will help shape the redesign, content, and improve your experience of using the site over the coming months.
News
New report looks at how local authorities monitor and support care providers with cyber security
Digital Care Hub’s Better Security, Better Care programme, in partnership with the regional Association of Directors for Adult Social Services, has released a new report exploring how local authorities help adult social care providers follow good data and cyber security practices.
With cyber threats increasing across the sector, ensuring care providers handle data securely is more important than ever. Our latest survey provides valuable insights into how councils are supporting care providers – and where more help is needed.
Michelle Corrigan wins Cyber Award
We are thrilled to congratulate our Programme Director, Michelle Corrigan, on being awarded one of the Most Inspiring Women in Cyber 2025. This well-deserved recognition highlights her outstanding contributions to improving digital security across the social care sector.
Digital Inclusion Action Plan launched
The UK government has introduced its ‘Digital Inclusion Action Plan: First Steps’ aiming to bridge the digital divide and ensure all citizens benefit from technological advancements. People drawing on or working in social care are amongst the most digitally excluded, so Digital Care Hub welcomes the plan’s focus on support for older people, adults with disabilities and low income households.
Analogue to digital switchover - are you ready?
Transferring from an analogue telephone system to a fully digital system is going to require a complete upgrade of every telephone exchange in the country. All phone companies need to move their customers from the old telephone exchanged equipment by end of January 2027 to the new digital systems.
Special services such as burglar alarms, fire alarms, lift alarms, CCTV etc will be affected.
If you run a care service, you must audit what you will need and what currently uses the phone lines. These will all need to be upgraded to a new system.
Providers Unite
On Providers Unite Day of Action - 25 February - we highlighted the importance of long-term investment in digital and data technology and skills. In adult social care, putting money into digital tools and safe data sharing isn’t just a nice idea – it’s a must for better care.
Recruitment
National Care Forum are recruiting for a Digital Skills Development Lead & Digital Care Development Lead
The Digital Skills Development Lead will create and deliver new training programmes to support care workers to improve their digital skills. You will work closely with not for profit care and support providers and the people who use their services, finding ways to create and implement digital skills training that truly benefits them.
The Digital Care Development Lead will lead on engagement and support to not for profit care and support providers, initially in the Liverpool City Region. You will be onboarding and supporting a range of providers to engage with the new social care test bed.
News
Digital Care Hub Joins Rewired 2025 as Official Partner
We are thrilled to announce that Digital Care Hub is officially partnering with Digital Health Rewired 2025, set to take place on 18–19 March 2025.
Join us for the panel discussion on Securing the NHS cyber workforce for the future from 12:15pm to 1pm.
Read more and register for your place here
NHSmail Multi-Factor Authentication
77% of all social care users, managed by the National Administration Service (NAS), now have MFA enabled. On 2nd September 2024, users who had not enabled MFA were moved into a specific security group with a stronger sign-in policy.
However, with recent changes to the security landscape and after internal reviews of their effects, NHSmail needs to apply stronger measures to ensure the security of the NHS.net Connect shared tenant.
Therefore, from 26th March 2025:
All users, including NAS managed social care users, who have not already enabled MFA, will lose access to all 365 services until MFA is applied
Users will be prompted to enrol when they next log in to the Portal or Outlook Web/Desktop Apps, or any other 365 resource, following the change date.
We will be communicating out to all affected accounts directly in the coming months, to alert and inform users of the change beforehand.
Information and guidance on how to enable MFA are available on the NHS.net connect support site pages
Stay informed with Digital Care insights!
Subscribe to Digital Care Hub's fortnightly LinkedIn newsletter for key updates on policy and tech in adult social care. Edited by Katie Thorn, it’s your go-to source for insights and discussion. If you're interested, subscribe here.
And whilst you’re at it, give us a follow on Instagram - @DigitalCareHub
Events
Microsoft: TechHer for Health and Social Care – Week 3 Power BI Data Visualisation
Location: Zoom
Date: Thursday 06 March
Time: 2:00pm - 3:00pm
TechHer for Health and Social Care is a free initiative designed to inspire curiosity and excitement about technologies such as Cloud, Artificial Intelligence, Data, Low Code/No Code App creation, Power BI and Security. Sessions are aimed at women who work in the NHS, Health Services or Social Care, who do not necessarily have a technical background and are keen to gain confidence to learn more about technology.
Delivered 1 hour per week over 5 weeks via a Teams Webinar, these live and engaging sessions aspire to ignite your interest in technology and build your skills to a fundamental level. For those that are interested in going further, extra resources will be available to support additional learning to work towards a Microsoft Fundamentals certification.
Microsoft: TechHer for Health and Social Care – Week 3 Power BI Data Visualisation
Location: Zoom
Date: Friday 07 March
Time: 3:00pm - 4:00pm
TechHer for Health and Social Care is a free initiative designed to inspire curiosity and excitement about technologies such as Cloud, Artificial Intelligence, Data, Low Code/No Code App creation, Power BI and Security. Sessions are aimed at women who work in the NHS, Health Services or Social Care, who do not necessarily have a technical background and are keen to gain confidence to learn more about technology.
Delivered 1 hour per week over 5 weeks via a Teams Webinar, these live and engaging sessions aspire to ignite your interest in technology and build your skills to a fundamental level. For those that are interested in going further, extra resources will be available to support additional learning to work towards a Microsoft Fundamentals certification.
TechHer for Health and Social Care – Week 4 Power Platform
Location: Zoom
Date: Monday 10 March
Time: 10:00am - 11:00am
TechHer for Health and Social Care is a free initiative designed to inspire curiosity and excitement about technologies such as Cloud, Artificial Intelligence, Data, Low Code/No Code App creation, Power BI and Security. Sessions are aimed at women who work in the NHS, Health Services or Social Care, who do not necessarily have a technical background and are keen to gain confidence to learn more about technology.
Delivered 1 hour per week over 5 weeks via a Teams Webinar, these live and engaging sessions aspire to ignite your interest in technology and build your skills to a fundamental level. For those that are interested in going further, extra resources will be available to support additional learning to work towards a Microsoft Fundamentals certification.
TechHer for Health and Social Care – Week 4 Power Platform
Location: Zoom
Date: Tuesday 11 March
Time: 11:00am - 12:00pm
TechHer for Health and Social Care is a free initiative designed to inspire curiosity and excitement about technologies such as Cloud, Artificial Intelligence, Data, Low Code/No Code App creation, Power BI and Security. Sessions are aimed at women who work in the NHS, Health Services or Social Care, who do not necessarily have a technical background and are keen to gain confidence to learn more about technology.
Delivered 1 hour per week over 5 weeks via a Teams Webinar, these live and engaging sessions aspire to ignite your interest in technology and build your skills to a fundamental level. For those that are interested in going further, extra resources will be available to support additional learning to work towards a Microsoft Fundamentals certification.
Review and Republish Data Security and Protection Toolkit for Social Care
Location: Zoom
Date: Tuesday 11 March
Time: 3:00pm - 4:00pm
The Data Security and Protection Toolkit (DSPT) is an online self-assessment tool to help adult social care providers in England to store and share information safely.
Because things change, you need to review and republish your toolkit every year so that it reflects your current data and cyber security arrangements. For example, you may have introduced new staff, data systems, technology or services – which in turn will impact on how you manage your information.
This webinar is for care providers who have published before, and are reviewing and republishing their DSPT.
MASTERCLASS: Accessing GP data with GP Connect
Location: Zoom
Date: Wednesday 12 March
Time: 2:00pm - 3:30pm
GP Connect is a secure method of accessing GP data by adult social care providers in England. The functionality is embedded directly into Digital Social Care Record systems and allows care organisations to see data on the people they support.
This session is designed to share the benefits of using GP Connect. It will include personal stories from care organisations who use it, including what set up is like. We will also be covering the security of the system, which roles can access data, and how software companies are embedded this into the system. NHS England’s Digitising Social Care Team will be on hand to answer questions.
Moving from Analogue to Digital in Social Care: Government Guidelines
Location: Zoom
Date: Thursday 20 March
Time: 2:00pm - 3:30pm
This webinar will focus on the critical transition from analogue to digital telephone systems within the social care sector. It aims to provide essential information and practical steps to ensure that care providers and service users are well-prepared for the change, maintaining the safety and reliability of vital services.
This is the second in the series of webinars on the transition from analogue to digital and with the government recent launch of the Telecare National Action Plan, Digital Care Hub to support Government’s Telecare National Action Plan for digital switchover - Digital Care Hub. We will be joined by Department of Health and Social Care who will be able to support and update the sector.
Practical IT Skills Workshop - IT Systems and Devices - Hosted by the Sussex Digital Team
Location: Zoom
Date: Thursday 20 March
Time: 2:30pm - 3:30pm
During this session, we'll delve into each aspect of the IT Systems and Devices section of the DSPT toolkit, providing detailed explanations and practical demonstrations on how to do the following:
Set up multi-factor authentication
Track and wipe content remotely from mobile devices
Encrypt your devices
Change passwords on networking components such as routers, switches, hubs, and firewalls
Set up private browsing
Assess and strengthen your passwords
Optimize your device performance
Back up data and conduct thorough testing to ensure its integrity.
This event is part of the Better Security, Better Care programme, funded by NHS Transformation Directorate to support data and cyber security across the adult social care provider sector