When clinical systems stop, care slows down. We secure, connect and modernise the technology behind patient care for NHS organisations, private providers, care groups and health technology companies, and provide the evidence commissioners and regulators ask for.
- Built around DSPT and clinical safety
- Round-the-clock monitoring
- AI with clinicians in control
81
of England's 236 NHS trusts were affected by WannaCry in 2017, an attack simple patching could have stopped (NAO)
The sector today
Healthcare runs on technology that can't go down
Almost every step of a patient's journey now depends on a digital system. That makes resilience, security and safe data sharing matters of patient safety, not just IT.
Healthcare IT is some of the most complex in any sector. A single hospital can run hundreds of applications: electronic patient records, pathology and radiology systems, e-prescribing, theatre scheduling and patient-facing apps, alongside thousands of connected medical devices. Many were bought at different times from different suppliers, some run on software that can no longer be patched, and all of them have to share data accurately. GP practices, community services, care homes and private clinics face the same pressures on a smaller scale, usually without a dedicated IT team. In that environment, an expired certificate, a failed integration or a supplier outage can delay appointments, test results and discharges.
It is also one of the most targeted sectors. Health records are special category data under UK GDPR, and criminals know that providers cannot tolerate long outages, which makes ransomware against hospitals and their suppliers especially damaging. Expectations are rising at the same time. The NHS Data Security and Protection Toolkit has moved to the NCSC Cyber Assessment Framework for larger organisations, suppliers must show clinical safety and DTAC evidence before their products are adopted, and AI tools for documentation, triage and imaging are moving from pilots into everyday use. Anthrasec helps healthcare organisations meet those demands with secure infrastructure, dependable integrations, well-governed AI and clear evidence.
123
critical outages affected NHS England in 2024, often forcing staff back to manual, paper-based working
Source: DSIT, State of digital government review, January 2025
45%
of NHS services still lack a digital pathway
Source: DSIT, State of digital government review, January 2025
43 min
saved per staff member per day in an NHS trial of an AI assistant, involving more than 30,000 staff at 90 organisations
Source: GOV.UK, Major NHS AI trial delivers unprecedented time and cost savings, October 2025
38%
of UK health and social care businesses have a board member responsible for cyber security
Health and care plans for incidents more than most, but gaps remain
Two in three health and social care businesses have a formal incident response plan, well above the average of 23%. That still leaves a third without one, and a plan only helps if it has been tested.
Source: DSIT, Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2025
| Sector | Share |
|---|---|
| Health and social care | 66% |
| Finance and insurance | 50% |
| Info and comms | 43% |
| All businesses | 23% |
Who we help
Support for every part of health and care
Each kind of provider has its own systems, funding and regulators. We shape our services to fit.
NHS trusts and integrated care boards
Cyber resilience, infrastructure and integration support for acute, community and mental health providers, aligned to the DSPT and the Cyber Assessment Framework.
GP practices and primary care networks
Secure, reliable IT for practices and networks: devices, connectivity, Microsoft 365 and help adopting new digital tools safely.
Private hospitals and clinics
Protected patient records, booking and billing systems, and security that satisfies insurers, regulators and patients.
Care homes and social care providers
Simple, dependable systems for digital care records and medication management, with DSPT support sized for smaller teams.
Health technology companies
Secure development, penetration testing and the DTAC, DCB0129 and Cyber Essentials evidence NHS buyers ask for.
Pharmacies, laboratories and diagnostics
Resilient systems and integrations for the services that clinical decisions depend on.
The pressures
Six risks healthcare leaders ask us about
Each one is manageable with the right controls. Here is what's at stake, and how we respond.
Ransomware and supplier attacks
- The risk
- An attack on your own network, or on a pathology, records or software supplier, can halt services for weeks.
- Our response
- 24/7 monitoring, segmented networks, tested offline backups and supplier assurance, with a rehearsed plan for working through an outage.
Legacy systems and medical devices
- The risk
- Clinical systems and devices often outlive the software they run on, and can't simply be patched or replaced.
- Our response
- We isolate what can't be updated, monitor it closely and plan a staged route to supported platforms.
Patient data protection
- The risk
- Health records are special category data. A breach harms patients and brings scrutiny from the ICO.
- Our response
- Least-privilege access, encryption, audit trails and data protection impact assessments built into every project.
Systems that don't talk to each other
- The risk
- Records, devices and third-party apps that don't share data reliably create delays and clinical risk.
- Our response
- Integrations built on HL7 FHIR and NHS standards, monitored so that failed messages are caught straight away.
Staff time lost to technology
- The risk
- Slow logins, duplicate data entry and unreliable devices take time away from patients.
- Our response
- Single sign-on, well-managed devices and automation that removes repetitive admin.
Adopting AI safely
- The risk
- AI tools are arriving faster than governance. Used carelessly, they put patient data and clinical decisions at risk.
- Our response
- Clear usage policies, clinical safety assessment and human review of anything that affects care.
What we deliver
Our services, applied to healthcare
One team covers security, infrastructure, software, cloud and AI, so nothing falls between suppliers.
01
Managed Cybersecurity
Protection and evidence for organisations that hold patient data.
- 24/7 threat monitoring and response
- DSPT and Cyber Assessment Framework gap analysis
- Penetration testing of clinical and patient-facing systems
- Supplier and third-party risk reviews
02
Enterprise Infrastructure
Networks and platforms designed to stay up.
- Resilient networks and Wi-Fi for clinical areas
- Immutable backups and tested recovery
- Segmentation for medical devices and legacy systems
- Monitoring with clear escalation routes
03
Application Development
Software that fits clinical workflows.
- Patient portals and booking tools
- Integrations using HL7 FHIR and NHS APIs
- Accessible design to WCAG 2.2 AA
- Support with clinical safety documentation
04
Cloud Platforms
Secure, UK-hosted cloud for health data.
- Migration planning for clinical and corporate workloads
- UK data residency and encryption by default
- Cost and performance management
- Disaster recovery in the cloud
05
Modern Workplace
Tools that give time back to staff.
- Microsoft 365 and Teams for care teams
- Managed devices for wards, clinics and home visits
- Single sign-on and multi-factor authentication
- Secure email and information sharing
06
AI & Automation
Practical AI with the right safeguards.
- Admin and correspondence automation
- AI readiness and data protection assessments
- Copilot rollout with data governance
- Evaluation against measurable outcomes
AI in healthcare
Where AI is already giving time back to care
The strongest results so far come from reducing administration, with a clinician checking every output. That's where we recommend most providers start.
23.5%
more time spent directly with patients when clinicians used an AI scribe, in an NHS trial covering more than 17,000 patient encounters at nine London sites
Source: Great Ormond Street Hospital, AI-scribe trial results, September 2025
Clinical documentation
Ambient voice tools draft notes and letters during a consultation, ready for the clinician to check and sign off.
Safeguard: A clinician reviews every note before it enters the record.
Administration and correspondence
Summarising referrals, drafting letters and handling routine messages, so staff spend less time typing.
Safeguard: Only approved tools, each covered by a data protection impact assessment.
Demand and capacity planning
Forecasting attendances, bed use and staffing from your own historical data.
Safeguard: Forecasts inform decisions. Managers make them.
Triage and imaging support
Decision support that helps specialists prioritise scans and referrals.
Safeguard: Regulated as a medical device where required, with clinical safety sign-off under DCB0160.
When it matters most
A supplier attack at 2am: how a prepared provider responds
Attacks on healthcare often arrive through a supplier, outside working hours. This is how our monitoring and response service is designed to work alongside your team.
Illustrative scenario showing how our service is designed to work. Response times are agreed with each client and set out in their service agreement.
02:10
Detect
Monitoring flags unusual encryption activity on a server linked to a third-party system. An analyst confirms it is real.
02:25
Contain
The affected server and the supplier connection are isolated. Clinical networks and medical devices stay online.
02:40
Escalate
Your on-call lead is phoned with a plain-English summary, and your incident and business continuity plans are started.
Morning
Keep care running
Clinics open using agreed downtime procedures while clean systems are restored from immutable backups, in priority order.
Within 72 hours
Report
We help you assess the impact on patient data and prepare notifications, including to the ICO and through the DSPT incident reporting tool where required.
Afterwards
Learn
A written review covers what happened, what worked and which controls to strengthen.
Regulation and standards
The frameworks healthcare is measured by
We help you prepare the controls and evidence each one asks for. Certification and assurance decisions rest with the relevant accredited or regulatory body.
NHS Data Security and Protection Toolkit
What it asks forAn annual self-assessment for every organisation with access to NHS patient data, aligned to the Cyber Assessment Framework for larger organisations.
How we helpGap analysis, remediation and evidence gathering ahead of your submission.
DCB0129 and DCB0160
What it asks forClinical risk management for health IT: DCB0129 for manufacturers, DCB0160 for the organisations that deploy it.
How we helpEngineering input to hazard logs and safety cases, working with your Clinical Safety Officer.
Digital Technology Assessment Criteria (DTAC)
What it asks forThe baseline NHS buyers use to assess digital health products for clinical safety, data protection, security, interoperability and accessibility.
How we helpPenetration testing, security evidence and accessibility fixes to support your DTAC.
UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018
What it asks forAppropriate technical and organisational measures for special category health data, and breach reporting within 72 hours.
How we helpAccess controls, encryption, audit logging and support with impact assessments.
Cyber Essentials and Cyber Essentials Plus
What it asks forThe government-backed baseline of five technical control areas, often required of NHS suppliers.
How we helpReadiness assessment and remediation before your certification body's assessment.
NIS Regulations
What it asks forSecurity and incident-reporting duties for operators of essential services, including designated healthcare providers.
How we helpControls mapped to the Cyber Assessment Framework, plus incident response planning.
Our approach
Your first 90 days with Anthrasec
A typical first engagement for a healthcare provider. You see progress every fortnight, and you own everything we produce.
Weeks 1–2
Discover
We map your systems, data flows, suppliers and critical services, and review your current DSPT position.
You get: A clear picture of your estate and risks
Weeks 3–6
Secure the basics
Multi-factor authentication, patching, backups and monitoring are put right, starting where clinical risk is highest.
You get: Urgent gaps closed and monitoring live
Weeks 7–10
Build
We deliver the first agreed improvement, such as a network redesign, an integration or an AI pilot, with clinical input.
You get: A working improvement in daily use
Weeks 11–13
Evidence and plan
We document controls, test recovery and agree a 12-month roadmap with costs.
You get: Evidence for your DSPT submission and a costed roadmap
For your team
What each leader gets from working with us
Technology decisions in healthcare involve many people. We make sure each of them has what they need.
Chief information officers and digital leads
A single accountable partner, a clear roadmap and systems that stay available.
Security leads and SIROs
Continuous monitoring, tested response plans and board-ready reporting on risk.
Clinical safety officers and clinicians
Technology designed around clinical workflow, with safety evidence prepared alongside you.
Data protection officers and Caldicott Guardians
Clear data flows, strong access controls and documentation that stands up to scrutiny.
Common questions
Healthcare IT and security, answered
Do you work with NHS organisations and their suppliers?
Yes. Our services are designed for NHS organisations, private providers, care groups and the technology companies that supply them. For suppliers, we help with the security and assurance evidence NHS buyers ask for, including Cyber Essentials, penetration testing and the DTAC.
Can you help us complete the Data Security and Protection Toolkit?
Yes. We assess your current position against the toolkit's requirements, help you close the gaps and gather the evidence. The submission itself is made by your organisation.
How do you handle patient data?
We agree a data processing agreement before any work begins, keep access to the minimum needed and work inside your own environment wherever possible, so patient data stays under your control.
Is AI safe to use in a clinical setting?
It can be, with the right safeguards. We start with administrative uses, check data protection and security, keep a clinician in control of anything that affects care, and help you meet clinical safety standards such as DCB0160. Tools that qualify as medical devices must be properly regulated.
What happens if our systems go down?
Our monitoring team acts to contain the problem, tells your on-call lead straight away and helps restore systems in the priority order agreed with you in advance. We also help you plan and rehearse downtime procedures, so care can continue safely while systems are recovered.
Do you support smaller providers such as GP practices and care homes?
Yes. Smaller providers hold the same sensitive data with far fewer people to protect it. We offer the same security and support at a scale and price that fits a practice, clinic or care group.
More sectors
Explore our other sectors
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