Alert system allows thousands to live independently

TeleCareLine provides a range of sensors capable of detecting falls, fire, carbon monoxide and floods that are monitored 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They can also be activated by the service user in situations such as a bogus caller at the door.

When an alarm is activated, an operator based at the Hillingdon TeleCareLine Monitoring Centre will notify a nominated person who lives nearby, a member of the council’s mobile response team or the emergency services, depending on the circumstances.

This year alone there has been an incredible 100,000 alarm calls raised from the 5,000 TeleCareLine users needing assistance, demonstrating how valuable the service is.

Since April 2011, 750 new residents have had the system fitted and the council is on track to install more than 2,000 more over the next three years.

Recipient of the 750th system, Grace Marks, said: “This system has given me and my family real peace of mind. I’ve always been an independent person and through Hillingdon TeleCareLine I can stay living at home but with the reassurance that, if something happened, help wouldn’t be far away.”

In Hillingdon, TeleCareLine is available free of charge to those aged over 85 and social care supported residents, subject to an assessment. It is also open to others at a cost ranging from £1.13 to £12 a week, depending on the level of support required.

Cabinet Member for Social Care, Health and Housing, Cllr Philip Corthorne, added: “Like most people, our older residents and those with disabilities have told us they want to be and to remain independent. This system allows them to do just that safe in the knowledge that assistance is on hand should they need it.”

For more information visit www.hillingdon.gov.uk or call Hillingdon Social Care Direct on 01895 556633.