Local authority in Wales successfully completes digital telecare switchover

Bridgend County Borough Council says it has become the first authority in Wales to successfully complete a digital switchover of its emergency telecare alarm calls to ensure the safety of its clients.

In 2017, BT announced plans to switch off its analogue telephone network (PSTN) by 2025 and replace it with an All-IP digital solution. The old network was no longer fit for purpose and the telephone network needed to meet future demands.

In readiness for the digital switchover and in a drive to mitigate any potentially negative impact on its 2,500 clients, the telecare team at the council, alongside Care and Repair and Galw Gofal, took swift action to ensure a successful transition.

A cabinet decision to invest more than £1 million in a ‘Technology Enhanced Care and Telecare’ programme enabled the authority to facilitate a seamless switchover from analogue to digital and support vulnerable people to remain at home and promote independence.

Installed by Bridgend County Borough Care and Repair team, the phased rollout of digital equipment manufactured by Legrand Care began in January 2023, with six clients successfully switching from analogue.

By August 2024, 2,380 clients and 2,273 units in Bridgend County Borough had been successfully installed for the switchover, with 88 clients currently outstanding due to poor signal areas.

The switch to digital has resulted in many benefits for clients, including better call quality and reliability and daily monitoring with real-time overview of appliance statuses, which support the individual’s safety.

The wearable technology has a greater scope to utilise different equipment to support lifestyle monitoring to predict deterioration, enabling earlier interventions. There is also better scope to converge telehealth and telecare for individuals, according to the council.

There are now fewer instances of failed calls received by the call centre, Galw Gofal, based in Conwy, and quicker fault detection.

Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Social Services, Health and Wellbeing at Bridgend County Borough Council, Councillor Jane Gebbie, said: “The completion of the digital switchover for our telecare clients is a key milestone for the authority and improves the reliability and efficiency of telecare services, ensuring that vulnerable residents receive a faster and more responsive level of support.

“The success of this switchover has also provided the foundation to moving forward with technological developments to support our services.

“Thank you to our partner organisations for their ongoing support in successfully delivering a safe and seamless transfer of nearly 3,000 service users from analogue to digital.”

Positive feedback received from telecare users has shown that the service is now more inclusive, a greater number of clients have access to telecare as no landline is required, and the unit can be placed anywhere in their house. The call quality has also improved and is now clearer when contacting the alarm receiving centre.

Angharad Evans, Telecare and TEC developer at Bridgend County Borough Council, added: “I am pleased that we were able to deliver this technology to residents to ensure their safety was maintained. By being the first local authority in Wales to achieve the successful switch to digital shows a determination and commitment in delivering technology enabled care in the community to help improve lives.”

The UK Government has reached a “landmark” agreement with the telecoms industry that is designed to better protect personal alarm users during the switch from analogue to digital landlines.