GDPR & Data Security in Health & Social Care

Learn GDPR and data security in health and social care, patient data protection, Caldicott principles, DSP Toolkit, DPIAs, breach reporting, AI, and health data governance.

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  • 3 hours
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What you'll learn

  • Explain GDPR, confidentiality, Caldicott principles, DSP Toolkit expectations, FOI considerations, and health data governance responsibilities
  • Understand patient and service user rights, consent issues, children’s data, vulnerable adults, automated decisions, transparency, and accountability duties
  • Support lawful processing, DPIAs, breach reporting, RoPA, inter-agency sharing, social care data flows, and international transfer awareness
  • Recognise security measures for health and care data, including encryption, pseudonymisation, anonymisation, mobile systems, cloud services, wearables, CCTV, biometrics, and PECR
  • Identify emerging privacy and security challenges in research, medical imaging, genomics, clinical trials, AI, telehealth, blockchain, and health data resilience

Course Description

Health and social care organisations handle some of the most sensitive personal data, including patient records, care notes, safeguarding information, health conditions, medication details, appointment data, genetic information, wearable device data, imaging records, and research data. The GDPR & Data Security in Health and Social Care course helps learners understand how UK GDPR, confidentiality duties, data security, information governance, and ethical data use apply across healthcare, social care, and research settings. This practical online course explores UK and EU data law, health data principles, NHS Caldicott principles, the Data Security and Protection Toolkit, records management, Freedom of Information requirements, data subject rights, children and vulnerable adults, lawful bases, DPIAs, breach reporting, RoPA, inter-agency sharing, UK IDTA, encryption, pseudonymisation, anonymisation, mobile and cloud systems, IoT care technologies, CCTV, biometrics, PECR, research ethics, medical imaging, genomics, electronic health records, clinical trials, AI, telehealth, blockchain, and public trust. It is designed for healthcare staff, social care professionals, care managers, information governance teams, DPOs, compliance leads, researchers, IT teams, and anyone responsible for protecting health and care data.

Course Includes

⏱ Flexible Online Learning
📚 7 Practical Modules
🎓 Certificate on Completion
💻 Learn Anytime, Anywhere

Course Curriculum

7 sections

•

0 lectures

    • Evolution of UK and EU data law

    • Evolution of UK and EU data law

    • NHS Caldicott principles and confidentiality

    • DSP Toolkit and records management

    • FOI Act and care record access

    • Patient rights to access and erasure

    • Consent in children and vulnerable adults

    • Automated decisions in health services

    • Organisational transparency and accountability

    • ICO codes and accountability guidance

    • Lawful bases for processing health data

    • Conducting DPIAs in health settings

    • Breach reporting and ICO requirements

    • Records of processing activities RoPAs

    • Inter-agency sharing in social care

    • International transfers and UK IDTA

    • NHS and ICO security standards

    • Encryption, pseudonymisation and anonymisation

    • Security in mobile and cloud systems

    • IoT wearables and care technologies

    • CCTV and biometrics in care homes

    • PECR rules for patient communication

    • Anonymisation methods and available tools

    • Differential privacy and synthetic datasets

    • Cryptographic approaches for health data

    • Privacy in medical imaging and genomics

    • Research ethics committees and governance

    • EHR and EMR systems in the NHS

    • Privacy challenges in genomic medicine

    • Data protection in clinical trials

    • AI and predictive analytics in care

    • Case studies of breaches and failures

    • Blockchain applications in health records

    • European health data space and UK role

    • Emerging risks in telehealth and genomics

    • Careers in privacy and data security

    • Building resilience and public trust

Why Take this Course

Health and social care data is highly sensitive because it relates directly to people’s wellbeing, dignity, safety, and trust. Poor data handling can affect individuals, families, services, research, regulatory compliance, and public confidence. Organisations need to manage privacy, confidentiality, security, access, sharing, and transparency carefully.

This course helps learners understand GDPR and data security in the specific context of health and social care. It focuses on practical areas such as patient rights, lawful bases, Caldicott principles, care record access, safeguarding-related sharing, DPIAs, breach response, cloud systems, mobile working, care technologies, research ethics, anonymisation, genomics, AI, and resilience. By completing this course, learners can support safer data handling, stronger information governance, and better protection of service users, patients, and research participants.

This course helps you:

✓ Understand GDPR, confidentiality, Caldicott principles, DSP Toolkit expectations, and health data governance
✓ Handle patient and service user rights, consent issues, vulnerable adults, children’s data, and transparency duties
✓ Support lawful processing, DPIAs, breach reporting, RoPA, inter-agency sharing, and international transfer awareness
✓ Apply data security concepts including encryption, pseudonymisation, anonymisation, cloud security, CCTV, biometrics, and PECR
✓ Recognise emerging risks involving AI, genomics, telehealth, wearables, research data, blockchain, and public trust

Who this Course is for

  • Healthcare Professionals
  • Social Care Workers and Care Managers
  • Information Governance and Compliance Teams
  • Data Protection Officers and Privacy Leads
  • IT, Digital and Research Teams

Requirements

  • 16 years or above
  • Good command in English
  • A running computer with stable internet connection

Assessment & Certificate

Validate Your Health and Social Care Data Protection Knowledge

Complete course assessments to reinforce your understanding of GDPR, data security, Caldicott principles, DSP Toolkit awareness, patient rights, lawful processing, DPIAs, breach reporting, inter-agency sharing, health technology risks, research ethics, AI, and public trust.

After successful completion, you will receive a certificate recognising your achievement.

Career Opportunities

This course supports professionals working in healthcare, social care, information governance, data protection, compliance, health IT, clinical research, care management, digital health, and privacy-related roles.

· Builds practical GDPR and data security knowledge for health and social care settings
· Supports safer handling of patient, service user, care, research, and health technology data
· Strengthens awareness of Caldicott principles, DPIAs, breach reporting, RoPA, and inter-agency sharing
· Helps teams manage risks linked to cloud systems, mobile devices, wearables, AI, genomics, and research data
· Provides a foundation for further learning in health information governance, privacy, cybersecurity, and data protection

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Frequently Asked Questions

This course is suitable for healthcare professionals, social care staff, care managers, information governance teams, DPOs, compliance leads, IT staff, researchers, clinical teams, digital health teams, and anyone who handles health or care data.

Yes. The course covers NHS and social care-related data protection issues, including Caldicott principles, DSP Toolkit awareness, care record access, inter-agency sharing, lawful bases, DPIAs, and breach reporting.

Yes. The course includes research ethics, anonymisation methods, differential privacy, synthetic datasets, cryptographic approaches, medical imaging, genomics, clinical trials, AI, predictive analytics, and blockchain in health records.

Yes. The course covers encryption, pseudonymisation, anonymisation, mobile systems, cloud systems, IoT, wearables, care technologies, CCTV, biometrics, PECR rules, and security risks in health and care environments.

No. This course provides general training on GDPR and data security in health and social care. It does not provide legal, clinical, cybersecurity, or research ethics advice. Organisations should follow their own policies and consult qualified legal, data protection, information governance, clinical safety, cybersecurity, or research governance specialists when applying requirements to real situations.