Telecare

Community Alarm Services (also known as telecare) offer a range of alarms and sensors designed to help you live safely at home. These systems can call for assistance if you need help, ensuring your family and loved ones know you are safe. They are suitable for anyone in South Lanarkshire who is considered vulnerable and assessed as needing support to maintain independence, safety, and security at home.

Services provided by the Community Alarm Team

The Community Alarm service is provided by South Lanarkshire University Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP). The Alarm Receiving Centre (ARC) and Alert Response Service operate 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to respond to alerts. Additional services, such as assessment, installation, equipment fault resolution, and equipment removal, are delivered during standard working hours. The equipment is installed by South Lanarkshire University HSCP’s Technology Enabled Care (TEC) team or Care and Repair South Lanarkshire Technicians, with emergency repair support available.

The TEC team and Care and Repair South Lanarkshire will aim to contact you in advance to schedule a suitable date and time for the installation. If you are unable to be present at the arranged time, contact the TEC team at 0303 123 1008, selecting option 2 for social work and then option 5 for telecare, to reschedule the appointment.

** Please note TEC team or Care and Repair will not enter a property to install, repair or uplift equipment without you or your representative being present.

Frequently asked questions

How do I call for help?

To ask for help, just press the button on your pendant or the red button on the alarm unit. Once you press the button, a light on your pendant will turn on to show that it’s working. The pendant will then send a signal to the Alert Alarm in your home.

If you can hear the alarm calling the ARC, you don’t need to press the button again.

What happens when I press my alarm button?

When you press the button for help, a trained call handler will answer the call. They will know who you are because the ARC’s system has information about you already saved in it. The call handler will check your details and ask you a few questions to understand if you need help or another service. They will know your name, where you live, and what needs you may have based on your assessment.

Based on your needs, they will arrange the right support for you. We will always try to contact your family, next of kin, or keyholders first to provide help. If we cannot reach them, or if they are unable to assist, we will arrange for an Alert Home Carer to visit you and make sure you get the support you need.

What is an Alert Home Carer?

An Aler Home Carer (also known as a responder) is a trained home carer from South Lanarkshire University HSCP. The Alert Home Carers work in teams of two and are assigned to cover all localities, East Kilbride, Hamilton, Cambuslang/Rutherglen, and Clydesdale. They can help with personal care, support if you have a fall, or provide welfare support when needed.

How long will I wait for an Alert Home Carer?

South Lanarkshire University HSCP cannot guarantee exactly when an Alert Home Carer will arrive at your property. This is why we seek support from your family, next of kin or keyholder first. When you make a call for help and require an Alert Home Carer, they will be informed of the situation and sent to you as quickly as possible. However, the time they take to arrive depends on the urgency of your call and travel conditions. This could result in delays in attending to you due to the urgency of outstanding visits. The call handler at the ARC will let you know if they are aware of any delays, but they might not always know at the time of your call.

What if my needs and support changes?

If your health condition, contact details, or the support from your family or friends changes, it’s important to let your local social work office know. This way, they can update your information and make sure you get the right support. Details of your local office can be found at the end of this leaflet.

What happens in the event of a power cut?

All alert alarms come with a backup battery. If your power fails, the battery backup will automatically activate, keeping your alarm functional for up to 48 hours. After this period, the battery may run out and the alarm will stop working.

What happens if I’ve had a fall?

The Alert Home Carers carry mobile lifting equipment called Mangar Cushions. If you are on the floor and it has been assessed as safe to do so, they will use the lifting equipment to help you up. If you have had a fall and are taking anticoagulation (blood thinning) medication, Alert Home Carers must seek medical advice before supporting you off the floor. They will do this by contacting your GP Practice, NHS 111 or 999.

What happens if I am unable to communicate with the call handler?

If you are unable to speak when you activate your alarm, don’t worry – the ARC can still identify you and send help. If the ARC does not hear a response, your call will be treated as “no voice contact.” The call handler will then try to reach you on your home phone or mobile. If there is still no answer, we will attempt to contact your family, next of kin, or keyholders first. If they cannot be reached or are unable to assist, we will arrange for an Alert Home Carer to visit and provide support.

Please note: if you do not have a key safe installed, we must contact a keyholder to allow entry before Alert Home Carers can attend.

What if I don’t have a local keyholder?

If you don’t have local keyholders, you must have a key safe installed so that the Alert Home Carers can access your property if needed. In an emergency, if your key contacts cannot be reached and no keys safe is available, the emergency services and a joiner may be called to ensure your safety. This could result in forced entry if required.

South Lanarkshire University HSCP cannot accept responsibility for any costs or damage to your home caused during this process.

Service standards

South Lanarkshire University HSCP has no control over mains power supplies, telephone lines, GSM signals, or other external factors that may affect the performance of your community alarm. Therefore, South Lanarkshire University HSCP cannot be held responsible for any failure of the alarm unit under such circumstances. However, you can be assured that we will do our best to mitigate all outages and work as quickly as possible to restore your service.

South Lanarkshire University HSCP strives to maintain a high-quality Community Alarm Service. This is an area of ongoing development, and from time to time, we may contact you for feedback about the service we provide. Your feedback helps us improve our service to meet your needs, and we would greatly appreciate your assistance with this.

What if I no longer need my Community Alarm Service?

If you decide that you no longer require the Community Alarm service, you can cancel it in one of the following ways:

• Complete the Council’s Community Alarm Cancellation Form
• By phone: Call your local social work office on 0303 123 1008 (select option 2, then option 7) between Monday and Friday, 8.45am – 4.45pm, to let us know
• Using your alarm unit: Press the call button on your alarm device to speak with a call handler and inform them that you wish to cancel the service.

Please then, switch off the device, unplug it, return it to your local office, marked for the attention of the TEC team. When you notify us that the alarm service is no longer required, we will deactivate the service. Following deactivation, the alert alarm will stop communication with our Alarm Receiving Centre (ARC).

Equipment ownership and payment

The Community Alarm Service is based on your assessed needs, with equipment provided and owned by South Lanarkshire Council. The equipment is loaned to you and remains the property of the council.

It will be installed and maintained by the Council at no cost to you. However, there is an annual charge for equipment rental, call monitoring and response services. You will be informed of the charge as part of your assessment for the service. Within three weeks of the equipment installation, you will receive your annual invoice, including payment details. If you prefer to pay monthly, please contact the Social Work Billing Team on 0303 123 1013, option 2, then option 1. This cost may change annually, and you will be notified of any changes on your annual invoice.

Faults and repairs

You are encouraged to test your alarm equipment regularly (at least every four weeks) to ensure it is working correctly. The equipment will automatically alert the Alarm Receiving Centre when the batteries are low, and we will arrange for replacements. Please do not attempt to change the batteries yourself, as this could reset your unit and disconnect it from the network, compromising its reliability. If you suspect there is a fault with your equipment, please contact the ARC at 0800 24 20 24, and we will arrange for someone to visit. If your community alarm requires a repair, please be advised that: Repairs will be carried out within 2–3 working days from the time the issue is reported.

The service operates Monday to Friday only. We are not open on weekends or public holidays.

Right to withdraw the service

South Lanarkshire HSCP reserves the right to withdraw the Community Alarm Service. This happens very rarely and would be for reasons such as:

• Verbal or physical abuse of staff members.
• Vandalism of equipment.
• Misuse of the service

Your information and how we use it

Personal information held by South Lanarkshire University Health and Social Care Partnership.

We will process your information fairly and lawfully and in accordance with the principles of the Data Protection Act 2018. The details provided for referral and assessment will be passed to the Alarm Receiving Centre to enable them to respond efficiently to your call. These details may be passed to the emergency services or other professionals involved in your care. This will include sharing your key safe code if you have one installed.

Information is stored securely within our electronic systems. At any time, you have the right to refuse consent to share information. However, this may impact our ability to fully assess your needs, and you may need to repeat information to a variety of services.

Where there are serious concerns about your wellbeing or someone else’s wellbeing, the law allows us to share information, even when you refuse consent.

It is your responsibility to inform the Community Alarm/Telecare Service of any changes to your personal details or named contact information. A relative or key contact can do this on your behalf. It is imperative that an Alert Home Carer can phone a key contact to gain access urgently and efficiently, both for yourself and other users of the service.

Access to your information

Under the Data Protection Act 2018, you have the right to find out what information the government and other organisations store about you. These include the right to:

• be informed about how your data is being used
• access personal data
• have incorrect data updated
• have data erased
• stop or restrict the processing of your data
• data portability (allowing you to get and reuse your data for different services)
•  object to how your data is processed in certain circumstances

**Please be aware that all emergency calls to the monitoring centre are voice recorded for your safety, security and staff training purposes

Complaints

If you’re unhappy regarding any aspect of the service, please contact your allocated worker. If you are still dissatisfied, you can make a complaint in the following ways:

• Online: Use the council’s complaint form
• Phone: Call the Customer Services Centre on 0303 123 1015
• In writing: Send your complaint to South Lanarkshire University HSCP, Customer Services Centre, PO Box 3591, Glasgow G73 9ED.
• In person: By appointment only – call 0303 123 1015 to arrange