About this resource

Data protection legislation requires you to keep a record of how you manage information. This resource explains why having an Information Asset Register is essential and provides you with a template you can use. 

Why recording how you manage information is important

To carry out your role as a local Healthwatch, you need to collect a range of information for different reasons and in different ways. Some of this information will contain personal data. Personal data is information that can be used on its own or with other information to identify a specific person, which relates to them and reveals something about them.

Data protection legislation requires you to keep a record of how you manage information, whether it contains standard category personal data or sensitive special category personal data or not.

Each local Healthwatch is responsible for ensuring that it is legally compliant. Maintaining an Information Asset Register is a robust way to manage information.

Having a register will clearly illustrate data flows within your organisation, show how data is protected and provides critical information for people who share their data with you. Managing a register will also help you comply with data protection requirements and demonstrate that you have good information governance procedures.

What is an Information Asset Register?

An information ‘asset’ is a category of data or type of data set routinely collected and stored in a data repository. This includes:

• Public experience information
• Employment data
• Annual reports
• CRM data
• CRM data shared with Healthwatch England

As each asset type has a different set of data contained within it, you will need to evaluate how you manage data for each dataset individually. The register provides a framework for doing this.

Template

You can use our template to help you create an Information Asset Register.

What information should you record using the register?

UK data protection law requires organisations to (a) keep "records of processing activities" and (b) be able to provide those who have entrusted data to them (known as data subjects) with information. This information should include:

• The name of the Data Controller and the name and contact details of the Data Protection Officer.
• The purpose for recording, storing and using personal data.
• The categories of personal data that you'll process.
• How long you'll store the data in line with your information retention schedule.
• The lawful basis for processing the standard category and special category personal data.

UK data protection legislation requires you to provide other information to people, which you can share through an online privacy statement.

Your Information Asset Register is for internal use only.

How to populate the register

The resource includes two worksheets: (a) a blank template and (b) an example completed register.

To help you fill in the template's columns, below, we explain each heading and the type of information you should enter under it. 

• Business function: Explain the overall function for each asset. For example, 'finance' for staff bank details.
• Asset description: Enter the type of information you hold under this asset title. For example: briefings, agendas, minutes, meeting notes, consultation documents, financial summaries, correspondence, advice, presentations, survey results and contacts.
• Where you keep the information: Log where you store data.  For example, is your information stored on a third-party survey system, CRM, or your organisation's servers?
• Purpose of processing: Briefly explain why you need this data. For example, you need staff bank details for payroll.
• Categories of individuals: Enter the types of people the data is about - for example, employees, patients, participants, practitioners, callers or stakeholders.
• Categories of personal data: Add the type of personal data you hold under this section - for example, name and details of DBS check.
• Lawful basis for collecting personal data:  State the lawful basis for collecting personal data for each of the entries.
• Lawful basis for collecting special category data: State the lawful basis for collecting special category data (if appropriate).
• General description of technical and organisational security measures: Explain the steps you take to ensure  your data is held securely and processed lawfully - for example, information access controls.
• Categories of recipients: Enter the type of organisations or people that will receive the data.
• Data processor or third-party organisation, if applicable: State here if another organisation will process the data. For example, a company providing a survey tool/online feedback centre.
• Names of third countries or international organisations that personal data is transferred to (if applicable):  State whether any of the information you collect is transferred overseas. For example, a cloud-based CRM system based in a third-party country. State which country the data is transferred to.
• Retention: Enter how long you'll retain the data and from which starting point the clock will start.

1. Objective

What do you want the communications activity to achieve? How does it link to our overall strategy and plans?

It is important to set these objectives at the start of your campaign, and get agreement from other members in your organisation, so that everyone starts on the same page. This can then be referred to later down the line should people need any clarity of what the whole point of the campaign was in the first place. 

2. Audiences

Who are you trying to engage, persuade or influence? And why?

Having a clear idea of who your audiences at the start of campaign is key to its success. Once this has been agreed, material and messaging can then be tailored to fit the target audience. 

3. Key partners

What key people or organisations need to be involved? Who can help you: (i) reach your audience (ii) make change happen or (iii) have an impact?

Think about who else you can involve in your communications to make it reach as many people as possible. This could be a local health service, a charity or a local business. Getting people on board to share your content will not only give your campaign a boost, but will do so to the relevant people. 

4. Success measures

What does success look like? What are the key milestones? How will you measure this?

Success can be measured in a number of ways but it is key to have a target that you want to reach at the start of your campaign. This could be the amount of reach your posts get on social media, the number of responses you have received on your survey, or the number of people that have approached your Healthwatch for advice and information. 

This is important to agree on before your campaign so that you can tailor your activity as you go. If an element of your campaign is proving more successful e.g. resulting in a high number of survey responses, invest more time into this area than one that is not working so well.

5. Audience insight

Do you have any research that can help you understand your audience and frame your communications? Things to think about:

• Who are they?
• What do they do?
• What do they believe?
• How do they consume information?
• Who influences them?

6. Messages

Your messages should make clear to your audience:

• The goal of your message - why does it matter?
• Why you are communicating - how does it help?
• What do you want people to do?

Think about how you link your messages together in your communications. When running a campaign you want to make it clear that your messages are of the same style so that it obvious that they relate to each other. Is there any branding that you can attach to make your messages obvious that they are grouped together?

7. Hooks

What hooks do you have to promote the issue? Compelling facts? An external event? A real life story? An expert view?

There are a number of ways that you can present these, whether it be in video form or a website blog. Try and factor the planning for these things before the campaign starts so you can include in the overall content plan. 

8. Resources and team

What resources do you need to deliver? Who will lead the project? Does everyone on the team have a clear role?

Give ownership to others for their part in the campaign. Don't try and do everything yourself, a successful campaign always involves more than one person. 

9. Risks

It is good to think about: 

• What are the risks of doing this?
• What are the risks if we don’t do anything?

10. Spokespeople

People like to hear from their peers. Do you have a strong spokesperson or case study through which you can tell the story?

11. Key dates and dependencies

Are there any key dates, events or deadlines that you need to be aware of? Are there any internal or external processes or factors that you need to take into account?

Take a look at upcoming awareness days and see if you can incorporate a relevant day into your campaign planning. There might be a hashtag that you can jump on to make your posts more relevant on Twitter. 

12. Format, channels and outputs

How will you reach the audience? What formats and channels will you use?

Remember to tailor your messaging to your different channels, it's not one size fits all. For example, hashtags are useful on Twitter but not on Facebook, small tweaks like these can help you look professional.

13. Evaluation

How will you know you have been successful?

Ask everyone that was involved in the campaign to feedback on what they think went well, or what could be done better in the future.

You don't need expensive equipment to take a good photo – the camera on your smartphone will usually be enough. Follow our top tips to help you get the most out of your camera.

Landscape or portrait

Think about whether your photo needs to be landscape (with the longer edges along the top and bottom, like the picture on this article) or portrait (with the shorter edges along the top and bottom). For most social media and the web, it's best to take landscape photos.

One exception is Instagram, where posts are square. If you're planning to post there, allow space on one or both sides of the subject if you're taking a landscape picture, or above or below the subject for a portrait picture. Then you can easily crop the photo without cropping the subject.

Zoom

As soon as you start zooming on your phone, you lose picture quality. Instead, get closer to the subject if you can, or take the photo and crop it later.

Lighting and focus

Try to use natural light where possible. If you need to shoot indoors, try to be near a large window. Avoid taking pictures with the window or sunlight directly behind the subject – it will be too bright and the person in your photo will be in shadow. Instead, take the picture with your back to the window.

Hold the camera steady and, if you’re taking a picture on your phone, tap on your subject when you’ve positioned them on your phone’s screen. This will set the proper exposure and focus, and avoid a blurry picture.

To help steady your camera, you can try resting it against a stable surface like a table.

Subject

Think about what you're trying to get across

Think about the emotions you want to capture and how you want to make people feel when they see your photo. For example, if you're at a community event, try to get photos of people smiling and interacting with the public.

Also think about whether anything in the photo makes it clear who or where people are, and whether that's helpful or not.

For example, if you're taking photos to show your staff out in the community, you'll want to make sure you capture any Healthwatch-branded clothing, banners etc. If you're hoping to use photos for a few years, you may want to avoid capturing anything that clearly shows the date. 

To help you, you can put together a list of shots you want beforehand. Think about what you might use them for, and what you'll need to include and avoid to make them work for that purpose.

Try to avoid photographing sensitive or personal information. This might appear on:

• Name badges
• Patient wristbands
• Wall charts with patient details
• Paperwork 
• QR codes that aren’t in public spaces
• Computer screens

If you do accidentally include this in a shot, make sure to edit it out before you use it. You can use the blur tool in the photo editor on your computer.

Take pictures of real people

Show the staff, volunteers and case studies behind our work to help your audiences understand what we do and see the people that make up Healthwatch. Try to make people feel comfortable so you can get the most natural photo of them.

Show people what you’re working on

You could share sneak peeks of a new report you’re going to publish, a group of volunteers working on a project, or staff and volunteers speaking to people in a health and care setting or at a community event.

What should people wear?

Solid, neutral colours often work best for headshots, as you want to avoid distracting attention away from people’s faces. If you're taking any video footage, remember that stripey clothing can look warped on camera.

Location and background

Your choice of where to take photos is as important as the composition and the lighting. Here are some examples you may want to use:

Locations

• Outside the building with signage in the background
• In the patient/treatment room
• In the reception or waiting room
• Community events
• In your office

Backgrounds

• Go outdoors and find a clear, colourful, or bright background, such as the side of a brick building.
• Place products on wooden tables, floors, clear tables or tiles.
• Hang a piece of ironed fabric on a wall to use as a backdrop.
• Avoid busy or untidy backgrounds that might distract from the subject of your photo or look unprofessional.
• Make sure you've moved anything you wouldn't want people to see, such as private documents.
• Create separation from the background. Make sure that your subject doesn’t stand too close to the background.

Take multiple shots

• Take a number of photographs from different angles. This allows you to choose the best one and build your photography library.