Chubb has designed, built and delivered Chubb® Care Control; a fully integrated IP monitoring solution enabling Falkirk Council to receive alarm signals from digital devices in the field. This vital service can now respond to alerts from Mobile Emergency Care Service (MECS) personal alarms and sensors on a 24/7 basis. The digital end-to-end telecare monitoring service has led to Falkirk Council becoming the first local authority in Scotland to achieve a Gold Digital Telecare Implementation Award by the Digital Telecare for Scottish Local Government programme. To achieve Gold status, a telecare service provider must have completed user acceptance testing with a representative group of low-risk users. Migration for clients in this group has commenced and a digital telecare solution has been rolled out to 20% of service users. This is the third level award within the Implementation Award Scheme.

Why the move to digital?
With digital migration already underway across the country, some services in Scotland are reporting a rise in the number of failed alarm call attempts, along with increasing numbers of cases where citizens have been migrated over to a digital service in their property. This has left analogue telecare equipment operating either unreliably, or not operating at all. Inaction on switching to digital telecare could lead to dangerous failures of essential services and put the support given to vulnerable individuals at risk. As we move closer to the switch over date it cannot be guaranteed that analogue telecare equipment will operate safely and reliably over digital telephone lines. This creates a massive challenge as well as opportunity for all concerned.
The solution
By utilising Chubb Care Control, Falkirk Council have been able to ensure that its 24/7 MECS – which has traditionally relied on phone lines – is digitally enabled. The system is 100% reliable and coupled with Chubb’s technical support and training services, one of the best in the industry. The system ensures residents’ privacy and independence are not compromised, providing peace of mind for residents, staff and family members.

The service provides home and personal alarms to about 4,000 vulnerable residents in the area and should a resident activate an alarm, it alerts the control centre for help. So far, 20% of residents have been switched to a fully digital service with the rest due to be completed by the end of 2021. “Due to our excellent working relationship with Chubb, we have been able to deliver on our digital telecare ambitions and become the first Scottish council to offer an end-to-end digital telecare service.” said, Ian Whitelaw, Analogue to Digital Telecare Project Manager at Falkirk Council.

Project summary
Following the transition to a digital service, emergency calls will be delivered to an alarm response centre “digitally”, rather than via the old analogue method. This offers a wide range of facilities within a flexible, easy to use package, offering the right features and functionality to deliver security and protection for residents and staff.

The move towards digital telecare creates further opportunities to redesign services around the user and ensure providers can fully exploit the capabilities of their upgraded telecare solution to improve efficiency, resilience, reduce cost and enhance the range of services offered to users. “Our clients should feel confident that the service they rely on to live independently at home is not only cutting edge, but also more secure and more reliable than ever before. Our focus now is to build on our digital ambitions, offering new choices and services that will help them lead independent lives for as long as possible.” continues Ian.   To learn more about Chubb’s custom-made solutions and service, visit www.chubbcommunitycare.co.uk   This briefing is intended as general guidance and is not a substitute for detailed advice in specific circumstances. Although great care has been taken in the compilation and preparation of this edition to ensure accuracy, Chubb cannot in any circumstances accept responsibility for errors, omissions or advice given or for any losses arising from reliance upon information contained in this publication. CFS4143 ©2022 Chubb. All Rights Reserved.