Record Numbers of Care Services Achieve DSPT Compliance in 2026
Record numbers of care services now have the Data Security and Protection Toolkit (DSPT) in place, as using the toolkit becomes standard practice, supporting data and cyber security across adult social care.
By the 30 June 2026 deadline, almost 76.5% of CQC-registered adult social care services across England had an up-to-date DSPT in place.
In total, 22,429 services are now DSPT-compliant, including 12,887 care homes and 9,562 home care services.
That is an increase of 600 services since June 2025 – and a massive jump from just 15% back in 2021.
Almost 14,500 of those published have used the DSPT for at least three years in a row.
Commenting on the figures, Better Security, Better Care Programme Director, Michelle Corrigan, said:
“It is brilliant to see record numbers of care services with the DSPT in place – and we are particularly pleased to see that almost 14,500 services have published their DSPT for at least three years in a row.
“This tells us that the toolkit is now embedded in many providers’ regular processes for checking their data protection and cyber security arrangements.
“The consistency is just as important as the overall numbers. When providers republish year after year, it shows that they are reviewing what they do, keeping their arrangements up to date and building trust with the people they support, their families, staff and partners.”
Care services that started their DSPT but did not manage to complete it by 30 June are encouraged to keep going. Digital Care Hub is holding a webinar specifically for services who have almost completed their DSPT. Book for 7 July webinar.
From DSPT compliance to implementation
Publishing the DSPT is an important milestone. The next priority is making sure the commitments made through the toolkit are reflected in day-to-day working, from staff training and policies to safer information sharing with health and care partners.
Michelle Corrigan, said:
“The next step is helping services turn their DSPT commitments into everyday practice. We are supporting that too. Following a successful pilot, we are rolling out free Digital Health Checks through our Local Support Organisations to help providers understand what is working well, where there may be gaps, and what practical steps they can take next.”
CQC support for the DSPT
The Care Quality Commission, strongly recommends that providers have the DSPT in place. Chris Badger, Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care told Digital Care Hub:
“CQC supports the move towards greater digitisation and integration in health and social care. Sharing and storing information safely remains a top priority and good data governance underpins safe, effective, and person-centred care.
“We strongly recommend that all care providers use the Data Security and Protection Toolkit (DSPT) to improve how they manage personal data. It offers clear evidence of good practice. Providers should also use the free expert support from the Digital Care Hub to help embed strong data protection into daily care.”
Links
Find out more and request a Digital Health Check
£5,000 prize up for grabs as Care Sector's Got Talent returns with biggest-ever search for social care's hidden stars
Competition opens to everyone working across social care as organisers aim to celebrate the sector's talent and change perceptions of care
Care Sectors Got Talent 2025Care Sector's Got Talent is back for 2026 with its biggest-ever prize fund, a brand-new stage at the Care Show and a call for everyone working across social care to step into the spotlight.
Run by Championing Social Care, the much-loved competition is inviting entries from across the social care workforce – from care home and home care teams to supported living services, day centres and community care. Frontline carers, nurses, administrators, receptionists, chefs, housekeepers, maintenance teams, office staff, volunteers and suppliers are all encouraged to enter, either as individuals or groups.
This year's competition offers its largest prize fund to date, with £5,000 in cash awarded to the winner to spend however they choose, while the runner-up will receive a £1,000 talent development fund to invest in lessons, coaching or equipment to help take their talent to the next level.
The 2026 Grand Final will take place on 7 October at the Care Show at Birmingham NEC, bringing Care Sector's Got Talent to one of the UK's biggest social care events. With thousands of care professionals expected to attend, finalists will perform in front of the sector's largest live audience yet, giving even more people the opportunity to celebrate the creativity, diversity and extraordinary talent that exists throughout social care.
Organisers hope this year's expanded competition will attract more entries than ever before by reaching every corner of the sector and reminding people that whatever their role, they are a talented and valued part of the social care community.
Whether it's singing, dancing, comedy, magic, spoken word, instrumental music or an unexpected hidden talent, Care Sector's Got Talent is about celebrating the people behind social care and showcasing the passion, creativity and personality that exists beyond the day job.
Nye Brown, Co-Chair of Care Sector's Got Talent and CEO of Hallmark Luxury Care Homes, said: "Social care is full of incredible people whose talents often go unseen outside their workplace. Care Sector's Got Talent gives us the chance to celebrate those individuals, while showing the wider public a different side of our sector – one that's creative, diverse, compassionate and full of extraordinary people. Every performer who takes to the stage helps challenge perceptions of social care, and we can't wait to discover this year's hidden stars."
Angela Boxall, Co-Chair of Care Sector's Got Talent, Chair of Care England and CEO of Majesticare, added: "Care Sector's Got Talent is a celebration of the people who make social care extraordinary. It doesn't matter whether you're delivering care in someone's home, working in a care home, supporting people in the community or keeping services running behind the scenes – if you're part of social care, this stage is for you. Hosting the final at the Care Show will make this our biggest celebration yet, giving thousands of people the chance to come together and celebrate the incredible people who make social care such a special profession."
Last year's winner, saxophonist Oladayo Ojekanmi, has gone on to perform at care sector events across the country, demonstrating how Care Sector's Got Talent can open new opportunities while shining a spotlight on the remarkable people working across social care. He says: "It was truly an incredible journey from the auditions to the grand finale. The organisation, support and professionalism throughout the competition made the experience both memorable and inspiring."
Entries are now open and close on 21 August 2026. Applicants should submit a two-minute video showcasing their talent via the Championing Social Care website: https://www.championingsocialcare.org.uk/care-sectors-got-talent/register/
Whether you're a solo performer, part of a choir, dance troupe, band or workplace group, Care Sector's Got Talent wants to hear from you.
Pairly partners with The Access Group giving UK care providers free access to real-time care enquiry technology
Partnership gives Access Care Rostering customers access to real-time availability matching, helping families find available home care faster and helping providers convert more enquiries into care packages.
Pairly, the UK’s first real-time care marketplace, has announced a partnership with Access Care, part of The Access Group, to give all Access Care Rostering (ACR) customers free access to Pairly Pro through Access Care Connect.
Pairly is the first real-time availability matching and lead capture tool built specifically for the social care sector. The integration connects Pairly Pro with Access Care Rostering, meaning care enquiries captured through a provider’s website flow automatically into their care management workflow. For the first time, live availability will be fed directly from providers and bed management systems, putting real-time capacity directly at the fingertips of care seekers. The Pairly platform acts like a 24/7 digital care coordinator, giving teams instant visibility of availability and helping care seekers access support faster.
The partnership addresses a growing problem across care. The sector has limited data to support providers to quickly respond to enquiries from self-funded care seekers, and many providers still rely on static webchat tools and contact forms. Research from MIT, which examined 100,000 customer enquiry engagements across multiple sectors, found prospects were 21 times less likely to qualify if response times extended from five to thirty minutes. Pairly Pro is designed to close this gap, with the average enquiry taking less than a minute to complete and reach a provider’s Pairly app.
Rather than routing potential clients through a generic interface, Pairly Pro matches care seekers against a provider’s care capacity in real time and delivers a qualified lead directly to the local care team. Care seekers who do not complete the process are still captured and surfaced for follow-up.
Anisa Appleby-Byrne, General Manager at Access Care, said: “This partnership brings together the UK’s most widely used care rostering solution on the Evo AI platform with Pairly’s approach to real-time availability matching. Together, we’re giving Access Care customers a connected front door that turns website visitors into rostered clients faster than anything else on the market.”
Will Flint, Co-founder of Pairly, said: “Partnering with The Access Group is a significant moment for Pairly. ACR is trusted by thousands of care providers across the UK, and integrating Pairly Pro into that ecosystem means we can put real-time availability matching technology into the hands of teams who have never had access to it before. This is how we start to fix the information gap between care seekers and providers at scale.”
Providers already using Pairly Pro are reporting results.
A spokesperson for Nurse Plus said: “Pairly Pro has helped to increase our conversion rate online, with the ability to provide the user with another method of enquiry. It has helped provide more comprehensive enquiry information to our teams, ensuring we can efficiently respond and put the package of care in place best suited to their needs.”
A Bluebird Care franchise in the South East added: “It has helped centralise enquiry management and create more consistency in how we handle incoming requests.”
Across over 1,000 providers, Pairly has managed more than 5,000 care enquiries in the last year, valued at over £300 million. The platform also manages recruitment enquiries, handling over 2,100 care worker applications in the same period.
Pairly Pro will be available to all domiciliary ACR customers from late Summer 2026 once the integration is live. The solution will be rolled out for residential customers in stage two of the integration.
Stories of Care: Kevin Humphrys, CEO, Oakland Care Group
Kevin Humphrys did not set out to work in social care. There was no calling, no long-held ambition, no carefully mapped career plan. In his words, he “fell into care accidentally”. And yet, his story is one that deserves the attention of anyone in management, leadership or operations who has ever wondered whether their skills could be used for something more meaningful.
Before social care, Kevin’s career was firmly rooted in what he describes as “generic management”: banking, recruitment, HR, operations. He had a knack for fixing things that weren’t working, stepping into struggling organisations and turning them around. He was good at it. But over time, something began to feel hollow.
“I reached a point where I realised I was essentially making more money for people who already had plenty.”
That realisation stayed with him. So when an opportunity arose to apply those same skills within social care, the shift was profound. Suddenly, the work had meaning. It mattered. And once he made that transition, he never looked back.
A baptism of fire
Kevin’s route into care was shaped not by a single defining moment, but by a chain of events that unfolded quickly and decisively. In 2010, he had just completed a successful turnaround project in the Home Information Pack industry. Then, overnight, everything changed. On its first day in office, the newly formed coalition government suspended the mandatory requirement for HIPs. An entire industry was effectively switched off.
Kevin went into work, made the whole team redundant – including himself – turned off the lights, and walked out.
Not long after, a trustee from a charity providing respite care for unpaid family carers got in touch. The charity was haemorrhaging money and on the brink of collapse. They asked Kevin if he could help.
He agreed to come in for six weeks to write a business change plan. Six weeks turned into something much bigger. At the end of the process, he was asked if he would consider applying for the role of Chief Executive to implement it.
At that point, Kevin knew nothing about social care. What he did know was business. He applied anyway – and got the job.
“That was my baptism of fire. I learned an enormous amount, very quickly.”
The charity survived. It still exists today. And Kevin is still in touch with its trustees. More importantly, something fundamental shifted for him during that period. For the first time in his career, he felt he was using his skills for something that genuinely mattered.
Learning the sector from the ground up
Kevin has now spent around sixteen years in social care. After his initial role in the charity sector, he made a deliberate decision to broaden his experience across different parts of the system. He wanted to understand the sector properly – not just from the boardroom, but from the ground up.
He joined Allied Healthcare to see how a large national provider operated, then took on interim roles across acquired brain injury services, learning disabilities, autism, domiciliary care, rehabilitation, and dementia care. Along the way, he became a registered manager, operations director, regional director, and eventually CEO of Oakland Care Group in 2022. He also serves as a Director of West Sussex Partners in Care.
He’s picked up fellowships and qualifications – including Fellowship of the Chartered Management Institute and the Institute of Leadership – but he’s clear where the real education came from.
“You can’t lead effectively in this sector without understanding what happens on the floor.”
What keeps him going
Ask Kevin what motivates him day to day, and the answer comes without hesitation: the residents.
Everything else, he says – regulation, funding pressures, politics – is noise.
“What matters is whether the people in our care are living well, with dignity and purpose.”
If he ever loses sight of that, he knows it will be time to step back and reassess.
He’s also driven by transformation. Social care, in his view, is a sector full of misaligned parts: fragmented funding, inconsistent regulation, workforce pressures, and a public misunderstanding of what care actually is and why it matters. Kevin thrives on taking something that’s struggling and rebuilding it properly.
Not quick fixes. Not surface-level improvements. But sustainable change.
“Each small improvement compounds. Better systems mean more time with residents. More time with residents means better outcomes. Better outcomes create more motivated teams. The cycle reinforces itself.”
Transformation at Oakland Care Group
When Kevin joined Oakland Care Group, much of the organisation’s operation was still manual and paper-based. Administrative tasks were absorbing time that should have been spent with residents.
Over the past few years, that’s changed dramatically. Oakland has implemented integrated technology across the organisation, including AI-assisted care planning and falls prevention systems. The aim was never innovation for its own sake.
“It was about freeing people up to do what they came into care to do.”
The results have gone beyond efficiency. The culture has shifted. Residents feel genuinely cared for. Team members feel valued and experience real job satisfaction.
“That’s the transformation I set out to achieve – not just better operations, but a place people want to work, caring for people who truly feel cared for.”
Leading through humility
One of the biggest lessons Kevin learned in his move from commercial sectors into care was humility. In previous roles, he was used to being the expert in the room. In social care, that approach didn’t work.
“I had to learn to listen – to practitioners, to residents, to families.”
Leadership, he realised, isn’t about having all the answers. It’s about creating the conditions where others can do their best work.
He’s also clear-eyed about the wider challenges the sector faces. Operational improvements matter, but they don’t address the deeper issue: chronic underfunding and public misunderstanding.
“There’s a perception that care providers are making huge profits. The reality is that 85% of us are SMEs operating on razor-thin margins.”
Changing that narrative – and showing the direct link between underfunded social care and pressure on the NHS – is, in his view, as important as anything happening inside individual organisations.
Culture as the proudest achievement
When asked about his proudest moment in care, Kevin doesn’t point to a specific award or milestone. He talks about people.
“When I see managers making decisions that prioritise residents over convenience, when I see practitioners advocating fiercely for the people they support – that’s the achievement. Culture is everything.”
That culture shows up in small, human moments every day: residents enjoying activities, families expressing gratitude, colleagues quietly going above and beyond. Kevin makes a conscious effort to notice and acknowledge those moments, even amid the inevitable problems and pressures.
Technology, trust, and time
One story he shares captures the essence of how thoughtful change can transform daily working life. Oakland recently introduced an AI system to support care plan composition. What once took over four hours now takes around twenty to thirty minutes, most of which is spent reviewing and refining rather than drafting from scratch.
One team member was deeply sceptical at first – a self-described technophobe, proud of their expertise and wary of change. Kevin worked closely with them, showing how the system could enhance, not replace, their skill.
Now, that same person is one of the strongest advocates for using AI in care planning.
“What changed was time. They’re now able to spend more of it with residents – and you can see that reflected in even more person-centred care plans.”
Seeing people first
For Kevin, great care work always comes back to one thing: seeing the person.
“You can teach competencies. You can’t teach genuine care about another person’s life.”
Over the years, his perspective has shifted. He’s become more patient with people and less tolerant of excuses. Early in his career, he focused heavily on systems and processes. Now, he understands that culture matters more.
Language matters too. How the sector talks about itself shapes how it’s valued.
“We should be calling ourselves what we are: care professionals. That signals there’s a career here, not just a job.”
A life beyond the boardroom
There’s another side to Kevin that often surprises people. Alongside his role as CEO, he is an ordained priest in the Church of England. Ordained in 2000, he has served as Associate Vicar of St Michael & All Angels in Brighton since 2019.
For him, the two roles are deeply connected.
“Both are about people – their dignity, their struggles, their need to feel valued.”
The pastoral nature of ministry has shaped his leadership style, just as his experience in care has informed how he serves his parish. They are not separate paths, but complementary ones.
Why care still matters
Care is hard work, Kevin is honest about that. It’s not always well paid, and it’s rarely easy. But it offers something many jobs don’t.
“You go home knowing you’ve made a difference to someone’s day – sometimes to their life.”
And for those starting out in the sector, his advice is simple:
“Ask questions. Stay curious. And never forget why you’re here. It’s not about the paperwork – it’s about the person in front of you.”
Care Home Open Week: Catwalk to Connection
Bridges Between Generations
Some of the most memorable care home events are those that bring the wider community in, and Pine Lodge Care Home in Sittingbourne’s fashion show during Care Home Open Week did exactly that. It was not simply a display of clothing. It was a thoughtfully created experience that brought residents, staff, families, and visitors together in a shared moment that reflected the energy of modern care.
Setting the scene
From the moment guests walked in, the atmosphere felt celebratory. Disco ball decorations shimmered overhead, silver streamers caught the light, and disco lighting transformed the space into something unexpected and immersive. But while the décor set the tone, it was only the beginning. The real shift happened when the live music started.
The power of live music and movement
What set Pine Lodge’s event apart was how it moved beyond a traditional fashion show format. It became something far more dynamic. A live singer performing ABBA’s Dancing Queen turned the runway into a shared space of movement and energy.
The room came alive. Residents dressed in their best outfits began moving to the music, encouraged by staff who supported those who wanted to join in. What stood out was how naturally it happened. Many residents were not prompted so much as drawn in by the atmosphere.
One particularly touching moment was seeing an elderly couple dancing together. It captured the essence of the afternoon: simple joy, shared movement, and connection that felt both spontaneous and meaningful.
Family engagement that sets the tone
One of the strongest aspects of the day was how actively families took part. They were not positioned as spectators. They were fully involved, laughing, and sharing in the experience alongside residents.
This kind of engagement matters. When families are included in a genuine way, it strengthens relationships and reinforces a sense of belonging. It sends a clear message that this is not just a place of care, but a living community where people continue to make memories together.
The team at Pine Lodge created the conditions for this naturally. Nothing felt forced, and that made participation feel easy for everyone involved.
The rhythm of everyday life
Residents waving to friends on the runway, conversations flowing between dances, and laughter filling the room all contributed to an atmosphere that felt real rather than staged.
It was not a tightly controlled performance. It felt like community life in motion, full of energy, interaction, and small moments of connection happening all at once.
Beyond the catwalk
After the dancing, party food was served, which helped extend the sense of occasion. It encouraged people to stay, talk, and continue sharing time together. It was a simple detail, but an important one. It turned the event from a scheduled activity into a natural, ongoing social experience.
What reminiscence really looks like
The event also highlighted something care professionals often aim for, but do not always fully capture. True reminiscence work is not only about revisiting the past. It is about reactivating identity, emotion, and enjoyment in the present.
The 1970s disco theme, the familiarity of ABBA, the chance to dress up, and the presence of live music all created touchpoints that connected residents to meaningful parts of their lives. More importantly, those feelings were not just remembered. They were experienced in real-time.
The care home as a community hub
Perhaps the clearest message from Pine Lodge’s fashion show is that care homes thrive when they operate as community spaces rather than closed settings.
When families are welcomed in, when residents are supported to participate in ways that feel natural, when staff are actively involved, and when entertainment is chosen with a real understanding of residents’ preferences, the atmosphere shifts.
At Pine Lodge, that shift was visible throughout the day. Visitors did not simply attend an event. They experienced a community at its most open, connected, and alive.
Founded in 1979, Eleanor Healthcare Group is one of London's largest independent health and social care providers, supporting thousands of people across the country. The group delivers a wide range of services, including residential and nursing care, home care, extra care housing, supported living, learning disability day centres, live-in care, prison social care and hospital logistics. With a strong focus on person-centred care, Eleanor is committed to helping people lead fulfilling lives through compassionate support, meaningful experiences and services tailored to individual needs.
Lowmoor Nursing Home Hosts Successful Blue Light Breakfast to Thank Local Blue Light Card Holders
Lowmoor Nursing Home in Kirkby-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, welcomed Blue Light Card holders to its second free Blue Light Breakfast on Friday 5 June 2026.
The event, held between 9am and 11am, welcomed representatives from the NHS, ambulance service, social care sector and other frontline services. It was organised as a gesture of appreciation for the dedicated individuals who support local communities every day.
The event was also attended by Lee Anderson, MP for Ashfield, who took time to meet guests and learn more about Lowmoor Nursing Home and its community activities.
Following the event, Lee Anderson MP said:
“It was great to visit Lowmoor Nursing Home in Kirkby-in-Ashfield this morning. It was lovely to meet the management and directors of this great local facility. This is a great event and a chance to chat to other blue light workers.”
The Blue Light Card scheme provides discounts and benefits to members of the NHS, emergency services, social care sector, armed forces, veterans and other eligible workers.
Manjas Lidder, Managing Director of Lidder Care, said:
“Our Blue Light Breakfast is a small way of saying thank you to the dedicated individuals who care for our community. We are proud to work alongside a range of key emergency service personnel every day.”
Since opening in 1994, the family-run nursing home has been at the heart of the Kirkby-in-Ashfield community, delivering specialist nursing and dementia care to its residents.
Manjas added:
“We were delighted to welcome so many guests through our doors, including Lee Anderson MP, which shows the continued local support for the initiative. As a care provider that has been in Kirkby-in-Ashfield for over 3 decades, supporting local people has always been at the heart of what we do.”
Lidder Care has been serving individuals across Mansfield and Ashfield for more than 30 years. The family-run care provider operates Newgate Lodge Care Home in Mansfield, Lowmoor Nursing Home in Kirkby-in-Ashfield and Lidder Care, a home care service supporting people across Nottinghamshire.
Care Sector Stalwart Retires After Thirty Years Championing Older People's Care
The CEO of not-for-profit care provider, Harrogate Neighbours and former National Chair of the NACC, Sue Cawthray, has retired after a career dedicated to improving care, nutrition and community support.
One of the care sector's most respected leaders, Sue, has spent more than 35 years working across social care, housing, care catering and community services.
Sue’s departure as Chief Executive of Harrogate Neighbours, brings to a close a remarkable career that has seen her influence national policy, champion older people's nutrition and wellbeing, lead award-winning services, and become one of the most recognised voices in care catering and community care.
Stepping into the role as CEO of Harrogate Neighbours is Helena Evans, who brings more than 20 years’ experience across the housing, supported housing, support and care sectors, including almost a decade serving as CEO within community-based housing and support organisations.
Since joining Harrogate Neighbours in 2005, Sue has overseen a period of significant growth and transformation, including the development of extra care housing, expansion of domiciliary care services, the creation of the award-winning Harrogate Food Angels meals-on-wheels service, and the opening of the organisation's Community Hub in Starbeck, North Yorkshire.
Her contribution to the wider care sector has been equally significant. A long-standing volunteer and leader within the National Association of Care Catering (NACC), Sue served two terms as National Chair and played a leading role in advancing nutritional standards for older people, contributing to national guidance, government initiatives and campaigns tackling malnutrition and loneliness.
In 2023, Sue received the Public Sector Catering Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of 30 years of service to care catering. She has also been named among the UK's most influential figures in public sector catering for five consecutive years and was recognised with the Outstanding Contribution to Social Care Award at the Yorkshire and Humber Great Care Awards.
Reflecting on her retirement, Sue said, "It has been the privilege of my life to work in the care sector and alongside some truly extraordinary people. Care is about far more than services – it is about dignity, compassion, relationships and helping people live the best lives they can.
"Over the years I have seen incredible commitment from care professionals, volunteers and support staff who go above and beyond every day, often without the recognition they deserve. I am immensely proud to have been part of a sector that continually rises to challenges and puts people first.
"The pandemic demonstrated beyond doubt the vital role social care plays in our communities. Yet despite that, the sector continues to face significant challenges around funding, workforce pressures and resources. My hope is that social care receives the investment, recognition and support it needs in the years ahead because the people who rely on these services, and those who deliver them, deserve nothing less.
"I leave the sector with enormous pride in what has been achieved and complete confidence in the passionate, talented people who will continue to drive positive change. Although I am retiring from executive leadership, I will always remain a proud advocate for social care and for older people."
Under Sue's leadership, Harrogate Neighbours has become recognised as one of North Yorkshire's most innovative charitable care organisations. Her achievements include leading the development of Greenfield Court into an Extra Care facility, project managing the £7.7 million development of The Cuttings Extra Care scheme, securing The Queens Award for Voluntary Service for the Harrogate Food Angels, and helping the organisation achieve and maintain Customer Service Excellence accreditation with Compliance Plus status year after year.
Her wider influence extended beyond Harrogate. Sue helped launch national nutritional initiatives, worked alongside government and healthcare stakeholders on hydration and malnutrition campaigns, contributed to industry guidance launched at the House of Commons, and played a key role in raising the profile of Meals on Wheels services across the UK.
Commenting on Sue's retirement, Chair of Harrogate Neighbours, Judith Bell said, "Sue's contribution to Harrogate Neighbours, and to the wider care sector, has been exceptional. Her vision, determination and unwavering commitment to improving the lives of older people have shaped not only our organisation but influenced services and standards nationally.
"Her legacy can be seen in the services she has created, the communities she has strengthened and the countless people whose lives have been improved through her leadership. We thank Sue for her extraordinary service and wish her every happiness in her retirement."
Care Workers Deserve Protection
Digital Care Hub is urging care providers to review how they protect staff, following reports of racist abuse, intimidation and anti-migrant incidents affecting care workers in communities across the UK. They have also issued an alert regarding an email scam and the Sponsor Management System.
Recent media reports have described migrant care workers being spat at, chased, threatened and racially abused while travelling between visits. These incidents are a direct threat to the safety, confidence and wellbeing of a workforce already under immense pressure.
International care workers make an essential contribution to adult social care, supporting older and disabled people in people’s own homes, at unsocial hours and in isolated settings. British-born workers from ethnic minority backgrounds are also being affected by the same hostile climate. No worker should feel afraid to do their job, wait for a bus, visit a person’s home or walk through the community they serve.
Care workers deserve protection
Michelle Corrigan, Chief Executive of Digital Care Hub, said:
“This type of behaviour has no place in our society. It is creating a culture of fear and intimidation against the very care workers who are supporting some of our most vulnerable people. Overseas care workers, and British-born workers from ethnic minority communities, are valued and essential members of our care workforce. They deserve respect, protection and practical support.”
How digital check-ins can help
Digital tools cannot solve racism. That requires leadership, accountability and a clear zero-tolerance approach from employers, public bodies and wider society. But technology can help providers strengthen their duty of care, especially for home care and lone workers who may be travelling alone, working across unfamiliar areas or supporting people where immediate help is not close by.
Providers should consider whether digital check-ins could form part of their staff safety arrangements. These can allow workers to confirm when they arrive safely at a visit, when they leave, and whether they need support. Some systems can alert a manager or on-call lead if a check-in is missed.
- Lone worker apps that enable quick check-ins and alerts.
- Discreet panic alarms or emergency buttons.
- Secure messaging groups for urgent contact with managers.
- Incident reporting systems that help providers spot patterns and act on them.
- Location-sharing tools, used proportionately and transparently, where there is a clear safety need.
Technology must be used with care. Monitoring should be proportionate, transparent and respectful of staff privacy. Workers should know what information is collected, who can see it, how long it is kept and how it will be used. Digital safety measures should be developed with staff, not imposed on them.
Stay alert to sponsorship scams
The current climate is also creating opportunities for fraudsters. Digital Care Hub has published a scam alert about fake emails claiming to be from the Home Office or UK Visas and Immigration and targeting users of the Sponsorship Management System. These messages may look official, claim urgent action is needed and ask users to log in through a fake link. If successful, criminals may gain access to sponsorship accounts and use them for fraud.
Providers with sponsor licences should remind staff never to share login details, never to use links in unexpected emails, and to access official systems through GOV.UK. They should also review who has access to sponsorship systems, remove users who no longer need access, use strong passwords and check account activity regularly.
More information is available in our alert and advice about this scam.
A joined-up response
Digital Care Hub encourages care providers to take a joined-up approach: listen to staff, update risk assessments, make reporting routes simple, review lone worker arrangements, and ensure cyber security advice reaches the people who manage sponsorship and HR systems.
Racism, intimidation and exploitation must never be treated as an unavoidable part of care work. Every care worker deserves to feel safe, valued and supported. Digital tools are not the whole answer, but they can be part of a practical response that helps providers protect their teams and stand clearly with the people who keep care services running.
How Find Your Room is Transforming Care Access
The team behind Find Your Room explains how their platform is streamlining the connection between care providers and care seekers through real-time availability and simplified search.
Find Your Room is a new app and website solution enabling care seekers to find services with current availability. Whether they’re looking for care or nursing homes, supported living, or home care, care seekers can search by location and care type to find suitable services – without worrying that their chosen care provider will be unavailable.
Founded by Nathan Coowar, a care home owner with years of experience in the sector, Find Your Room aims to provide a solution for the problems faced by care seekers and care providers.
Nathan, who developed Find Your Room while running his own care home in Surrey, says: “These days, the high costs for advertising make it difficult for care providers. And if you’re looking for care, it’s increasingly hard to find the right placement. We get so many calls from care seekers in the community, as well as local authorities and hospital discharge teams – even in neighbouring counties.
“Our goal is to provide the infrastructure that care seekers and care providers both need. We’re all used to getting live availability for everything these days – property listings, hotels, and even restaurant bookings. Our website and app hope to provide a similar service for care seekers and care providers.
“Real-time availability listings can be absolutely invaluable for people who need immediate care, as well as providers trying to fill care home rooms.”
Helping care providers
As care providers all know, it can be both difficult and expensive to advertise your care home to the right people. However, Nathan hopes to keep costs low for care homes.
Currently, Find Your Room charges just £24 per month for care providers to register a property or service with them, and registered charities and non-profit services can sign up for free.
Each month, the site gets more than 100,000 impressions. So, when care providers register their properties, they’re putting themselves in front of thousands of potential clients, making it that much easier to fill their vacant rooms and provide a great service for the people who need it.
As care seekers can search by availability, registering with Find Your Room won’t increase a care home’s workload when it’s fully occupied. Prospective residents will know about vacancies before they make contact. Administrators, receptionists, and care managers need not worry about an increase in phone calls or emails when they’re fully occupied.
Helping care seekers
Looking for care for yourself or a family member is stressful. It can take a long time, too; your local authority might suggest some nearby care services, or you may have recommendations from family and friends, but you’ll have to contact all of these properties individually to find out if they have availability.
The burden of finding appropriate care placements can be even more time-consuming for social workers, hospital discharge teams, and other health and social care professionals. They often spend hours on the phone or waiting for responses to enquiries about availability, while potential service users are waiting in hospital or not receiving appropriate care at home.
With the Find Your Room app and website, however, care seekers can search for nearby care services and filter by availability – saving a significant amount of time, as they only need to contact services with vacancies. Whether you’re a busy discharge co-ordinator or an anxious family member, you can make sure that the individual who needs care is supported as quickly as possible.
Care is a family business
Nathan grew up immersed in the adult social care sector, as his family owned a care home. Now, he runs the home himself, alongside working on Find Your Room. He says: “I was brought up with both parents working in the adult social care system, and I’ve witnessed firsthand how so many changes have come in over the years – some good and some bad.”
Find Your Room is a group effort, too. Nathan has assembled a team of experts around him, both care professionals and other specialists.
Included on the team are Partnerships Director Beth Fitzgerald, who draws on experience across a variety of sectors, and Alka Bagga, who brings more than 35 years of development and programming expertise to lead app and website development. Lucy Henson Clark has worked in adult social care for 15 years and draws on that experience to advise care seekers on the site’s info hub.
However, Nathan is clear on who’s really in charge: his daughter Sadie. “She’s the real boss. She’s the one who gives me the direction and drive that I need to make Find Your Room the go-to destination for care seekers and care providers!”
When Care Breaks Down: Why Evictions and Withdrawn Care Packages Must Be Part of the National Conversation
By Jayne Connery, Founder of Care Campaign for the Vulnerable
For many families, the greatest fear is not simply placing a loved one into care. It is the fear of what happens if that care suddenly ends.
Over recent years, Care Campaign for the Vulnerable (CCFTV) has seen a significant rise in families contacting us after being told that a care home can no longer meet the needs of their relative, or that a domiciliary care provider intends to withdraw support entirely.
In some cases, providers are absolutely right to say that needs have become too complex. Care providers cannot safely support every situation, particularly where staffing levels, funding limitations or specialist clinical requirements create genuine risk.
But families repeatedly tell us another side of the story.
They describe situations where relationships deteriorated after raising safeguarding concerns, questioning standards of care, requesting incident investigations or challenging communication failures. They describe feeling labelled as “difficult” simply for asking questions about the care of someone they love.
CCFTV is increasingly supporting families who believe that complaints and advocacy are contributing to the breakdown of care relationships. This is not just happening in care homes. It is also happening within home care services, where vulnerable elderly people are being left frightened and distressed after agencies threaten to “pull out” of packages with little notice. For someone living with dementia, frailty or complex health conditions, the sudden removal of trusted carers can be devastating.
The emotional impact on families is enormous.
Many relatives already carry significant guilt about needing outside support in the first place. They are exhausted, anxious and often navigating highly complex systems around Continuing Healthcare, safeguarding, discharge planning and dementia care. When care arrangements become unstable, families can feel trapped between fear of speaking up and fear of losing care altogether.
There is also a wider issue here that the sector must be willing to discuss openly.
The phrase “unable to meet needs” is increasingly being used within care, but there is often little transparency around what that truly means. Is it because needs have genuinely escalated beyond safe provision? Is it because staffing levels are stretched? Is it because the relationship between family and provider has broken down? Or is it because providers fear reputational damage, complaints escalation or regulatory scrutiny?
These are uncomfortable questions, but they are important ones. Families deserve honest conversations, not defensive ones.
At the same time, providers themselves are under immense pressure. Staffing shortages, rising operational costs, increasing dependency levels and insufficient funding are placing huge strain on services. Many providers are managing extraordinarily difficult situations every day while trying to protect both residents and staff.
This is why the conversation around evictions and withdrawn care packages cannot become simply “families versus providers”. That helps nobody.
What is needed is greater transparency, earlier intervention and independent mediation before relationships collapse completely.
Too often, communication breaks down long before formal notices are issued. Concerns become personalised. Trust disappears. Meetings become confrontational rather than solution-focused. Families feel unheard, while providers feel unsupported and under attack. By the time an eviction notice or package withdrawal is issued, the relationship is often beyond repair.
For vulnerable elderly people, especially those living with dementia, the consequences can be profound. A move from a familiar environment can lead to rapid deterioration, increased confusion, distress, falls, hospital admission and, in some cases, irreversible decline.
We cannot continue to treat these situations as purely contractual matters There also needs to be far more discussion around how providers are supported to manage complex dementia care. Across the sector, many homes are caring for residents with increasingly advanced behaviours, psychological distress, aggression linked to neurological disease and highly unpredictable presentations.
This requires specialist dementia training, emotional resilience, leadership support and realistic staffing structures. Without this, providers themselves can feel overwhelmed and families can feel abandoned.
CCFTV believes there must be stronger frameworks around how care breakdowns are managed. Families should never feel frightened to raise concerns. Providers should not feel left unsupported when trying to manage highly complex situations. And vulnerable elderly people should never become collateral damage in fractured relationships between organisations and relatives.
Most importantly, the sector must stop seeing difficult conversations as damaging.
Talking openly about evictions, care withdrawals and relationship breakdowns is not anti-provider. In fact, avoiding these conversations damages trust far more. Transparency builds confidence. Families understand that not every placement can continue indefinitely. What they struggle with is feeling excluded, blamed or abruptly abandoned. The reality is that good care relies on partnership.
Families bring history, understanding and emotional insight. Providers bring professional care, structure and clinical oversight. When those relationships work well, outcomes are often extraordinary. But when communication collapses, it is vulnerable people who suffer most.
CCFTV will continue supporting families navigating these deeply distressing situations, while also advocating for balanced conversations that recognise the pressures providers face. Because if we truly want a safer and more compassionate care sector, we must be brave enough to talk about what happens when care relationships break down and how we can stop vulnerable people paying the price.