Harnessing free resources to drive digitisation and cybersecurity in social care

Michelle Corrigan, Programme Director, Digital Care Hub, shares useful resources to support social care organisations with using more digital technology.

In a sector where compassion and care are core, the shift toward digitisation represents both significant opportunity and critical responsibility. With sensitive personal data exchanged daily, it’s vital for social care organisations to embrace digital tools, while ensuring robust cybersecurity. Thankfully, a suite of free, high-quality resources is available to help embed digitisation and enhance cyber resilience. Offerings include those from ourselves - the Digital Care Hub (DCH), alongside trusted partners such as Skills for Care, the Local Government Association (LGA), and others.

We recognise that for you, care providers who major in hands on care delivery, embedding digitisation and cyber security isn’t always straightforward - lack of time or capacity for training and policy updates, uncertainty around roles and responsibilities, fear of getting things wrong or not being “techy” enough

But there are free resources available that are specifically designed for the realities of the care sector. They're flexible, low-effort, and supportive, so you can build improvements step-by-step, in a way that suits your service.

By making use of free digital and cyber resources, care providers can:

• Build staff confidence with engaging, bite-sized learning.
• Strengthen compliance with the Data Security and Protection Toolkit (DSPT) and regulatory expectations.
• Reduce risks of data breaches, reputational damage, and service disruption.
• Empower internal champions to lead digital change.
• Create a culture of cyber awareness, without needing dedicated IT teams.

Most importantly, it allows providers to put the focus back on care, knowing that their digital foundations are solid.

Through our Better Security, Better Care programme, we provide practical, easy-to-use tools to help care providers meet their digital and cyber responsibilities. Find out more about the resources and how you can make the most of them.

Digital Care Hub resources

Free eLearning for all staff

Our Data Security Awareness eLearning is a short, accessible training course for all care staff. It covers the basics of data security—both paper and digital—and is ideal for induction or refresher training.

Data Security And Protection In Social Care Course

Advanced eLearning for data protection leads

Launched in 2025, this course is tailored for data protection and cyber security leads in adult social care. The course deepens knowledge and builds confidence across four modules: responsibilities, managing data, cyber threats, and breach response, and is ideal for anyone needing more in depth knowledge of data protection and cyber security, not just data protection leads, but system administrators or digital champions too.

Data Security and Protection eLearning - Leads - Digital Care Hub

Cyber game for social care teams

Our interactive cyber game lets staff experience a real-life cyber incident from different roles within a care organisation—care worker, manager, or data lead. It's an engaging way to bring the risks to life and understand how everyone plays a part in protecting information.

Cyber Game - Digital Care Hub

Templates, policies, and practical guidance

We provide a suite of downloadable templates and guides to help you create or improve your data protection policies, respond to subject access requests or handle data breaches.

These tools are aligned with DSPT requirements and best practices, helping to streamline your digital policies and procedures.

These include:

• business continuity plans
• bring your own device policies
• data protection policies
• Information Asset Register (IAR) and Record of Processing Activities (ROPA)

Template Policies and Resources - Digital Care Hub

Other Free Tools You Can Use

While Digital Care Hub offers a strong foundation, other resources across the sector are available to support your journey.

Skills for Care - Digital Skills e-Learning

Skills for Care offers free e-learning modules covering the Digital Skills Framework, including person centred digital care, using technology safely, ethics and digital wellbeing. These modules are great for care staff who are just beginning their digital journey.

Digital Skills eLearning

Digital Skills Framework

This free resource is designed to support the development of digital skills across the adult social care workforce. It sets out seven key areas of effective digital working at two levels - ‘digital skills for all staff’ and ‘go further’ - and can be used by individuals for personal development or by employers to plan training.

Digital Skills Framework

Local Government Association (LGA) – cyber and digital support

The Local Government Association (LGA) offers a range of resources for adult social care providers and local authorities, including Cyber 360 diagnostic toolkits, “Cyber Unpacked” guides, and digital leadership support. These can help you build strategic confidence around digitisation and cyber resilience.

 LGA digital support.

National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC)

The NCSC provides a wealth of guidance tailored to small organisations, including “Cyber Aware” behaviours, Suspicious Email Reporting Service (SERS), and guidance on common threats like phishing, ransomware, and weak passwords.

 NCSC support.

Charity Digital and Other Sector Resources

Charity Digital (formerly Tech Trust) offers guidance, events, and discounted digital tools for charities, which may benefit not-for-profit care providers.

Providers can also explore support from Cyber Resilience Centres, Action Fraud, and Get Safe Online - all offering relevant, free advice and training.

Building a strong digital and cyber foundation can start with small, manageable actions. These five simple steps can help you embed good practice and build a cyber aware culture across your organisation.

• Train your staff
  Begin with our basic e-learning and build up to advanced modules for your Data Protection Lead.
• Use templates and policies
  Download our free tools to create or update your policies around data protection, business continuity, and cyber security.
• Make it fun
  Run team sessions using our Cyber Game, or other interactive methods, to boost awareness and start important conversations about cyber risk.
• Engage a Digital Champion
  Use LGA and Skills for Care frameworks to support a “digital champion” who can lead innovation and training internally.
• Keep checking your progress
  Use the DSPT to benchmark your data protection status and revisit our resources regularly to stay up to date.

Digitisation and secure cyber practices are no longer optional, they’re essential to modern, resilient social care. By harnessing free resources, and implementing them in bite size steps, organisations can build a well-rounded, accessible, and sustainable digital and security culture. Best of all, the cost is no barrier, these tools enable social care teams to confidently embrace technology and safeguard trust, while staying focused on what they do best: care.

Find out more about digital technology with our #DigitalEmpoweredCare spotlight. 

Print this page