New name for Digital Social Care... Find out more 
Better Security, Better Care has launched the Action Research Fund which aims to harness sector knowledge and expertise via provision of a research grant fund to explore current issues and identify and test new approaches in cyber and data security within Adult Social Care.
This approach provides an opportunity to pilot a set of new ideas at a smaller scale before expanding reach and impact, and fits well with our “by the sector, for the sector” ethos. The fund will award grants to original and robust pilot or ‘discovery’ research projects that, through scalability, can demonstrate the potential to make a tangible contribution towards improving data and cyber security within the Adult Social Care sector.
The outcomes from the first round of action research projects will contribute to the strategic planning process for the programme, and the wider policy development portfolio. The programme will evaluate the pilot projects to determine which are viable for further investigation, informing or even becoming larger-scale projects in the future.
Better Security Better Care (BSBC) is a national programme to improve data and cyber security in the Adult Social Care provider sector. It is led by a programme board whose members include NHS Transformation Directorate, NHS England, the Local Government Association, the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) and, on behalf of the care provider sector, Digital Social Care. You can find out more about the programme here.
The programme supports the adult social care sector with resources and assistance to help care providers complete the Data Security & Protection Toolkit (DSPT). The DSPT is a free, online self-assessment for health and care providers to evaluate and improve their data and cyber security. It is an ambitious programme with the aim that all CQC registered Adult Social Care services will complete the DSPT to ‘standards met.’ There are 26,000 care providers registered with the CQC and over 1.5 million staff working in care. The programme is delivered by a diverse group of care sector organisations, including many local care associations, with colleagues from the NHS, ADASS and local councils also involved.
View the presentation materials from our recent webinar about the fund.
View a recording of the webinar below.