Digital developments project
Technology and digital are developing at pace within the adult health and social care sector and VODG is promoting a series of initiatives to help its membership stay up-to-date on developments affecting disability services and to support positive developments in the digital age.
The Care Provider Alliance’s Digital Social Care Project, identified the potential for Digital Social Care to:- Improve the quality of care
- Support individuals to remain independent for longer
- Improve the quality and efficiency of information sharing in health and social care
- Support transparency and accountability to people using social care services and their families about how their information is used.
But with opportunity comes responsibility and in 2017, the Care Quality Commission created a new Key Line of Enquiry, which is relevant to all social care providers:
“How does the service assure itself that it has robust arrangements (including appropriate internal and external validation) to ensure the security, availability, sharing and integrity of confidential data, and records and data management systems, in line with data security standards? Are lessons learned when there are data security breaches?”VODG members who attended our successful Getting ahead with digital, data, and tech conference in November 2019 heard from industry and policy experts on topics including NHSX, data protection, artificial intelligence, machine learning and social care, the latest digital, data and tech developments affecting the sector and much more.Getting ahead with digital, data, and tech | event roundupFollowing on from this conference, VODG supported by the Association of Mental Health Providers are undertaking a project to:- Analyse the preparedness, issues and obstacles facing disability and mental health organisations providing social care and support for adults of working age in relation to data and cyber security
- Raise the profile of data and cyber security issues facing these organisations including awareness and use of the data security and protection toolkit
During the first three months of 2020, the project will:- Examine the use of data security protection resources by organisations providing social care and support for adults of working age
- Identify the barriers to data security protections (including information, attitudes and access) including non-engagement
- Collect good practice for wider sharing (including organisational “pen portraits”)
- completing the survey, which will be emailed to all members in January
- joining the focus group of 10-12 organisations to participate in structured interviews
- following developments on social media using the hashtag #VODGDigital
- sending your comments, queries and suggestions to [email protected]
We would particularly like to hear about the barriers in your organisation to increasing the pace of digital social care and the support you need to get there.
To get moving on this topic:- Please visit the digital social care website for further information
- Complete NHS Digital’s data security and protection toolkit
- It’s more than a year since GDPR came in - have you reviewed your GDPR policy?
- How well do your people, processes and technology meet the 10 data security standards?
- Have you reviewed the resilience of your systems and people to a cyber attack whether it be a scam, an attack on your data systems or an attempt to steal your data? See some top tips and advice here.
- Is it secure?
- Can your staff access what they need?
- Do you know who they are sharing your information with (intentionally or unintentionally)? And
- Is your data, clean – accurate, up-to-date and consistent?