Health and Social Care Data Public Panel minutes and action notes: 30 September 2025

Date: 30 September 2025
Time: 10am – 12pm
Location: MS Teams

Agenda

TimeAgenda ItemOwner
10:00IntroductionsChair
10:00Review of previous minutes and declaration of interestChair
10:05Cybersecurity – public engagementDHSC
10:50BreakAll
11:00NHS FDP – AnimationNHS England
11:45Any Other BusinessAll

Attendees

RoleOrganisation
ChairCancer Research UK
Senior Policy LeadDHSC
RepresentativesNHS England
RepresentativeNational Care Forum
Lay membersIndependent

1. Introductions

The Chair welcomed members to the meeting. Previous meeting minutes were agreed and approved for publication. No declarations of interest were noted.

Action: Secretariat to review minutes format and length following panel feedback.

2. Cyber Security – public engagement

Representatives from the Joint Cyber Unit (DHSC) and the Cyber Improvement Programme presented cyber security in health and social care, covering current threats, the department’s regulatory approach, and the upcoming Cyber Security and Resilience Bill.

Panel feedback:

  • Stronger regulation was welcomed by the panel
  • Public communication on data protection needs to be clearer and avoid vague terms like “safe” and “secure”
  • Data integrity flagged as a greater clinical risk than inaccessibility, as corrupted records can directly harm patients
  • Patient-centred access controls preferred to support public trust
  • Transparent incident communication supported
  • Public willing to accept some risk for better healthcare, but trust remains fragile
  • Social care requires tailored approaches given unique privacy challenges in home and care settings

3. NHS FDP animation and product demo

The NHS FDP team demonstrated a crisis response tool built for mental health services on the NHS Federated Data Platform, designed to coordinate referrals across community crisis.

They also presented a one-minute animation storyboard aimed at NHS professionals, to be shared via LinkedIn. Panel feedback included:

  • “Efficient care” and “efficient decision-making” should be changed to “effective care” and “effective decision-making”
  • Patient voice should be stronger and more consistent throughout design and development
  • Animation should address health inequalities, particularly poorer mental health outcomes for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic groups, which research suggests are three times higher than average and linked to systemic and structural factors
  • The platform’s ability to provide retrospective analytics was welcomed as a means of identifying and addressing such disparities going forward

4. Any other business

  • HR update – panel members to receive details on ESR/EASY once set up complete.
  • The December meeting is to be moved to an earlier date in December following panel vote; secretariat to confirm new date.