The UK has a new government with Labour securing power for the first time in 14 years, and Keir Starmer elected as Prime Minister.
During the election campaign, the party released a list of pledges explaining what it would do, if elected – from modernising hospital equipment to creating a National Care Service.
These manifesto commitments will now form part of a legislative programme aimed at cutting NHS waiting times, reducing pressures on primary and acute health services and reforming social care.
For those of us operating in the Technology Enabled Care (TEC) sector this renewed focus provides an opportunity to shape future policy and remind newly appointed ministers how we can contribute to reducing the need for care home and emergency admissions.
The TEC Services Association (TSA), the national advisory body for TEC, released a seven-point summary shortly before polling day detailing how TEC can support the new government in delivering improvements around health, social care and housing.
These reveal how TEC empowers older and disabled people to lead ‘technology enabled lives’, boosting independence and wellbeing and helping them to access early support, closer to home.
They also highlight how TEC keeps people out of hospital highlighting how 85% of people who’ve fallen remain at home if their call is handled by a TEC falls team.
Peter Kerly, Managing Director, Everon UK, said:
“The new government has promised to fix the NHS, but any reforms ministers intend to deliver must be considered at the same time as the much-needed changes required to fix social care. We finally need to grasp the nettle.
“Technology enabled care (TEC) will be key to this, reducing pressure on our health services by preventing emergency admissions to hospital and allowing more people to live independently at home for longer.”
“The TEC sector has the potential to drive economic growth alongside reducing the burden on statutory services, as part of a digital and AI strategy for adult social care.”
January 2027 is the new date set for the start of a new digital era and the end of analogue telephone operated services across the UK
Openreach announced this month it would be giving more time for business to prepare for the long-trailed upgrade in telecoms infrastructure to digital connectivity. The decision is aimed at minimising the risk of any disruption to service.
This will mean an extra 13 months for the technology-enabled care (TEC) sector – as well as those who commission health and care services – to be ready when the final switch comes.
The TSA, the industry body for the TEC sector has given the extension a cautious welcome, saying it reflects the complexities involved in such a vast national transition.
The investment decisions made now by the sector and its partners in housing, and health and social care, will have urgent implications for the millions of vulnerable people who rely on telecare in the UK.
The transition has already begun with BT no longer selling analogue devices and Everon UK has backed industry-wide calls for the momentum to date to be sustained and related actions accelerated.
Peter Kerly, Managing Director, Everon UK, said: “We support the TSA in its response to the decision by Openreach to extend the deadline for digital switch over.
“However, action and careful planning are urgently required now so that telecare and social alarm reliability and safety is not compromised, putting lives at risk.
“We have the digital-solutions ready to support the TEC sector and the broader health and social care landscape to help make this transition to digital quickly and smoothly without compromising safety.
“This is a real opportunity to devise and implement new tech-led personalised services and product offerings that will transform the level of service the sector provides to service-users.”
Visit the TSA website to read more about the Digital Switchover, including a podcast and video explainer. Searching for the latest digital solutions for the TEC sector? Visit: www.everon.net
The technology enabled care (TEC) sector supports over two million people in the UK. Many of them and their families draw on TEC via care packages commissioned by local authorities or housing providers. Most solutions are delivered in response to crisis.
This month the TEC Action Alliance published a report that explores the opportunities for technology enabled care to provide greater support for people, their loved ones and often unpaid carers.
It sets out a vision for implementing TEC so that we can all live – as they put it – gloriously, ordinary lives. Key recommendations highlight:
Peter Kerly, Managing Director, Everon UK, said: “The recommendations laid out in this Action Paper provide a route map for TEC to be at the forefront personal care excellence in the UK.
“As the TEC Alliance set out, technology enabled care will play a pivotal role in a landscape of budget cuts and system pressures, complementing the excellent work of care professionals, and putting people first.”
Read the report here.
Anyone intent on finding reasons to keep their analogue-only solutions in place despite expert advice are potentially putting their customers at unnecessary risk.
That’s the verdict of Openreach in evidence to a new report published by TSA on behalf of the Technology Enabled Care (TEC) sector. It followed a top-level meeting between industry leaders and the Department of Health and Social Care.
Sector delivers warning
The Industry Call to Action Report presents information from across the TEC sector on the status of the digital telephone switchover and actions that needed to be taken to mitigate risk of harm to alarm users.
For TEC commissioners, service providers, suppliers and installers, the report offers essential guidance in understanding the risks of analogue telecare devices working on a digital network.
The main risks, the report suggests, from ‘an analogue telecare device working on a digital network are alarm call failure as well as the impact of mains power failure as battery backup is not provided as standard to digital networks.’
Openreach urge long-term thinking
In its contribution to the report by Openreach, written in conjunction with communication providers, the company suggests that:
“…anyone that is intent on finding reasons to keep their analogue-only solutions in place, contrary to expert advice, rather than accepting and embracing change, will clearly be doing so for short-term financial reasons, and will be doing so despite offering an inferior service to their competitors and potentially putting their customers at unnecessary risk.”
Everon applauds ‘essential’ report
Peter Kerly, Managing Director, Everon UK, said: “This report is an essential read for health care and social care providers in understanding the risk of relying on legacy analogue devices for telecare users.
“At Everon UK, we are focused on delivering digital, data led tech solutions that will improve proactive care within the home and give greater peace of mind.”
Read the report here.
