Responding to DSPT compliance and local authority tenders

IN RECENT months we have seen the depth of questions and requirement for evidence increasing around DSPT (Data Security and Protection Tool Kit) reports and Local Authority tenders.

In most cases we see the care sector turn to their IT providers to complete these documents.

To respond to and evidence those IT questions you will need to be working with an IT partner who is embedded in the social care sector, truly understands your organisation and has the tools in place to evidence the answers.

There are four key areas to consider to accurately respond to these questions: Your IT environment has probably evolved but you must understand how its put together.

You don’t need to understand the technicalities but its critical that you know what you have, where are the gaps and have a strategy / roadmap to evidence how and when you will address those gaps.

You must understand the thirdparty IT services you subscribe to and evidence their processes and service level agreements. A simple example, how do you know your data backup process is backing up what you think?

You should be involved in agreeing your security policies, your business is unique and has individual needs which need consideration.

For example, blocking Facebook is common but Marketing and HR rely on it. Wherever possible you must proactively monitor your IT environment.

You need to understand and respond to changes, alerts and breaches before they happen otherwise all the work from points one, two and three will be out of date within hours.

Workplace IT is embedded in the social care sector. We understand how the sector works and have in place proven IT Services, Tools, processes to monitor and manage your IT to accurately respond and evidence DSPT and Local Authority questions.