Agenda item

Sandra Taylor, Assistant Director Provider & Commissioned Care, provided the Committee with an update on the TeleCareLine Services. Ms Taylor was supported by Manesh Patel, OPHS Operations Manager.

The Committee was informed that the previous review into Assistive Technology was conducted in 2011, just after the inception of TeleCare within the Borough. Since then, the service had been offered for free to over 85's, and extended in 2015 to a free service for all residents aged over 80. Service users continued to grow, with 4,949 users as at September 2017. Within this figure, the total number of TeleCareLine (TCL) users aged 80+ was 3,768.

Service levels available to residents included:

Standard - Level 1 - included standard unit, pendant, bogus caller button and monitored smoke detector with the resident having their own nominated responders in the event of an emergency. Level 2 included the same equipment but with LBH mobile response service.

Enhanced - Level 3 - included the equipment in level 1 plus additional sensors to meet the needs of the client following an assessment e.g. falls detector, movement sensors, door sensors, again with the resident's own nominated responders, or Level 4 with LBH mobile response service.

The TCL system was monitored 24/7 by the Council's TCL team who provided the first line response to all alerts raised. For residents who had their own nominated responder, the TCL monitoring team would make contact with them in an emergency.  Where emergency services were required, these would be instructed by the monitoring team. Residents who did not have family or friends living close enough to act as an emergency responder could still benefit from TCL via the Council's mobile response service.  This support was provided by the Senior Reablement Carers between 8am and 10pm, and the dedicated night response officer, who would respond to call outs as required.

An increase in enquiries had been seen relating to the smoke detector. The bogus caller button was rarely used, whereas the emergency call button, included within the home kit, was used frequently. Use of the Vega Watch was low, though the watch included functionality to provide GPS tracking, emergency calls, and zoning alerts, all of which were useful in locating the user and responding to them when required. The watch was often used in conjunction with door sensors, to provide an alert if the user left the property unexpectedly.

Devices were tested regularly, with a daily report compiled that showed device usage. If a device had been seen to have been out of use for 36 hours, the Council would receive an alert. Devices could be 'pinged' to ensure functionality, and calls would be made to users if devices remained inoperable. The TeleCare Line itself was subject to power cuts on occasion, though internal batteries in devices would ensure that these continued to work in the interim. Intermittent service issues often lasted for approximately 1 hour, and in the event of longer outages, courtesy calls would be made to users.

Technology within the marketplace was continuing to develop, including additional watch functions such as heart monitoring, useful in alerting of stroke or heart attack. Hillingdon was still assessing this technology, and likely would not adopt this for some time. Approximately 200 users were still on old systems, and the Council was looking to migrate those users to upgraded technology by the end of the year.

Moving forward, the Out of Hours call handling service would in future be handled by an external company, AnchorCall, with a go-live date of 27 November 2017. The Council would retain in-house front facing functions of the TeleCare service, including the processing of referrals, product support for staff and users, scheduling of new installations, booking maintenance/repair calls for the TeleCare equipment, and would continue to be first responders for alarm alerts, where applicable.

AnchorCall had been fully vetted as part of due diligence to ensure their service was fit for purpose and would provide the requisite quality of care for residents. As part of this due diligence, the OPHS Operations Manager had visited the AnchorCall Contact Centre, and had confirmed that their technology was much more advanced than that of Hillingdon. A comprehensive disaster recovery programme was in place, staff were professional and competent, and this was borne out in their number of users, which was over 36k.

Attention was drawn to the case studies set out in the appendices, which showed the value of technology in helping residents and carers to live more independent, happy lives.

Members raised the possibility of using the TeleCare technology to help residents alert the authorities in cases of domestic abuse. Officers confirmed that, in addition to the technology outlined previously, silent alarm buttons were available. All service users were informed that they were to use the alarms/alerts should they feel anxious, scared, or threatened in any way. Officers advised that they would be happy to discuss the matter with Members in more detail outside of the meeting.

The Committee requested that officers elaborate on the use of TCL to help address the issue of loneliness and isolation in older residents of the Borough. Officers confirmed that the promotion of services and events such as dining centres, or use of community hubs such as Bell Farm Christian Centre, were historically more successful in addressing loneliness and social isolation than use of the TCL in general. However, these services and events were promoted though the TCL, and staff at the Contact Centre referred users of TeleCare to the relevant Council services, such as Social Care, or to other service providers such as Age Concern. Referrals could also be to Hospitals outside of the Borough.

However, The TCL received comparatively fewer calls at night, which allowed staff more time to talk with users. This helped staff to get to know the users in more detail, and forge relationships with regular callers that could help address loneliness. In addition, the time also provided the opportunity to gather information to pass to social workers as part of the referral process.

Members sought clarity on the number of residents using TeleCare aged under 80 years. Officers advised that this information could be provided outside of the meeting, but confirmed that there was a large focus on growing users aged 70-80, in an effort to have services in place before an individual's personal circumstances were in 'crisis'.

Members suggested that more volunteers at the Contact Centre, and that further promotion of the services via social media platforms or Hillingdon People, would further improve quality of care and uptake of services. It was requested that this be considered as a potential recommendation to Cabinet as part of the current review into loneliness and social isolation in older residents.

Members requested that a visit to the Contact Centre be arranged.

RESOLVED: 

1.    That the report be noted;

2.    That information on users of the TeleCare services aged under 80 years be forwarded to members of the Committee;

3.    That the potential for increasing volunteers within the Contact Centre and further promotion of the service within relevant media platforms be considered as a potential recommendation to Cabinet as part of the review into loneliness and social isolation in older residents; and

4.    That a Member visit to the Contact Centre be arranged.