Telecare
Here at South Ayrshire, we offer a range of Digital Alarm Units and Equipment. We require you to have a good steady Digital Network Signal in your area for us to provide an alarm.
The current charge for the community alarm service is £4.85 per week.
What is the Purpose of Telecare?
The Community Alarm and Telecare Sensors can, alongside package of support i.e. home care, day care, meal deliveries etc. would contribute to the reduction in people requiring going into long term care or being admitted/readmitted to hospital. It can also help to reduce the pressure on informal carers/family/friends and increase the speed of discharges from hospital once clinical needs have been met.
Listed below are some examples of the different Telecare sensors available and the benefits that each sensor can provide. Please note that these are examples and there may be other sensors available (not listed) that meet individual needs.
Further information on examples of Telecare sensors is available on the Health and Social Care Partnership website.
Who Can Benefit from Telecare?
All service users can benefit from Telecare dependent upon the individual's circumstances and assessed need. This can include Older People, Adults with Mental Health or Learning Disabilities, Adults with Physical Disabilities, People with Dementia, People with Epilepsy and Children with Disabilities.
Telecare doesn't replace your family or carers who visit you at home. However, it can give you confidence to live at home safe in the knowledge help is at hand when you need it.
If you are an unpaid carer, Telecare can provide reassurance the person you care for can get help when you're not available.
Community Alarm Eligibility Criteria
To be eligible for an alarm individual must meet the following criteria:
- Be a resident of South Ayrshire.
- Be 18 years of age or over.
- Have a contact telephone number (mobile or landline).
- Individuals who are frail, have a disiblity or health issues.
- Have either a key safe and/or 2 local keyholders who can respond promptly and are available 24 hours 7 days a week.
- Have available cellular network in the area they live.
The community alarm service is delievered to a wide range of service user groups, priority will be give to:
- People who are at risk of being admitted to hospital or permanent care.
- People who require support to aid an early discharge from hospital.
- People who are terminally ill.
The Emergency Response Team operators are trained to deal with emergency situations.
They can contact:
- a member of your family
- Your doctor or nurse
- Emergency services such as ambulance or police
- a mobile response carer to visit your home
Who Can Benefit from Telecare?
All service users can benefit from Telecare dependent upon the individual's circumstances and assessed need. This can include Older People, Adults with Mental Health or Learning Disabilities, Adults with Physical Disabilities, People with Dementia, People with Epilepsy and Children with Disabilities.
Telecare doesn't replace your family or carers who visit you at home. However, it can give you confidence to live at home safe in the knowledge help is at hand when you need it.
If you are an unpaid carer, Telecare can provide reassurance the person you care for can get help when you're not available.
Cost
The current charge for the community alarm service is £4.85 per week
The initial invoice will be sent after installation and monthly thereafter.
The payment method options will be made available to you.
Our telecare staff will never ask you for payment or money.
You can opt out of the paper invoices?
You can use the following link for more information about Telecare which also includes a useful self-check tool which will help to identify which services may be of use. No personal information is required.
Telecare Self-Check Online Tool | NHS inform
Maintenance of equipment
If you have been provided with a community alarm and a pendant, you or a family member are required to test this by pressing the pendant monthly, allowing the call to call through to the monitoring station and advising the operator you are performing your monthly pendant test.
If you have any problems with the equipment provided, the monitoring station should be informed by raising a call through your main telecare alarm unit, or by calling the monitoring station on the contact details provided.
If your details or circumstances do change you should contact the monitoring station and update them of the information as soon as possible. It is your responsibility to keep us up to date so that we can provide the best service.
Mobile attendant staff
Our mobile attendant staff are trained in moving and handling and basic first aid and have appropriate equipment to assist if you have suffered a falls, and work 24 hr a day.
Our staff respond to calls for the whole of South Ayrshire, and due to demands and constraints on the service, family members or keyholders may be contacted to attend in the first instance.
All our staff wear uniforms displaying the South Ayrshire Council logo and will display a photographic identity badge. If you have any concerns regarding the identity of staff, they can be verified by contacting the South Ayrshire Monitoring Station on 0300 123 0900 or by pressing your community alarm.
Self referral
If you are unable to access or complete our digital referral, please call us on 01292 880929 Monday to Thurs 9am to 4.45pm Fri 9am-4pm where someone will arrange an appointment to assist you.
What if I am dissatisfied with the service?
If you have any concerns about our service, please write to: South Ayrshire Telecare Department, 12 McCall's Avenue, Ayr, email to telecare@south-ayrshire.gov.uk or call 01292 880929.
If you have further concerns after discussing the matter with us then contact the Care Commission, Compass House, Discovery Quay, 11 Riverside Drive, Dundee, DD1 4NY, Telephone 01382 207100.
Monitor and evaluate
We will monitor and evaluate our service to you. We do this in a variety of ways, through staff carrying out verbal audits with you, annual questionnaires and suggestion leaflets all aimed at improving our service. In continually trying to improve our service your comments are welcome and can be reported through the monitoring station operators or mobile attendant staff. Our service is also subject to inspection by the Care Commission.
Terms and Conditions
If there is limited cellular network in your area, we may be unable to provide our service.
Any misuse of the alarm or mistreatment verbally or physically of any of the Telecare Team will not be tolerated and may result in termination or suspension of our service.
Frequently asked questions
What if I no longer wish my telecare service?
If you decide you no longer require the service, you must inform us as soon as possible. We will then agree to arrange for you to drop the unit and pendant at one of our designated areas or arrange collection.
What if I move house?
You should notify your care manager, who will arrange for our service to transfer and re-connect your alarm at your new home.
What if I press my alarm by mistake?
The operator will talk to you through the alarm unit - simply tell the operator it was pressed in error. It is more common than you think and not a problem, the operators will be glad to know all is well.
What if there is a power cut?
Your telecare alarm has a battery back-up which will operate in the event of a mains failure. The batteries in all your equipment will be maintained to ensure it is in full working order.
What if I cannot speak to the operator or they cannot hear me?
We treat all these calls as a 'no response' and will attend as a priority. We would also contact your family or keyholders as appropriate.
What happens if I am going to be away from my home?
If you are going away, into hospital, on holiday or staying with family or friends, where possible, you should inform the monitoring station and provide them with details when you leave and when you return. This will ensure that if any telecare device activates when you are not at home, we will not send anyone to your property.
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