Telecare is the whole range of 'assistive technology' products. It includes alarm systems, that provide support to people in their own homes through their link to the Dudley telecare service (24/7 and 365 days a year). This service has transformed the lives of people who wish to remain living independently for as long as they can. It brings reassurance to users by ensuring safety within the home.
Who is the Dudley Telecare Service for?
Our service is for anyone in need of a little extra support or assistance to remain independent within their home.
There is no age barrier to the service. Anyone who is isolated, lives alone or feels insecure could benefit from the service.
Telecare has primarily been used by older people. However, the range of Telecare equipment has developed hugely over the years and now offers benefits to people of all ages.
Dudley Telecare is keen to support younger people with health conditions or learning disabilities. We also provide bespoke packages to support:
- nursing homes
- sheltered housing
- residential care homes
- supported or extra care housing
Dudley Telecare is solution focused and prides itself on finding the technological solution to transform people’s lives by giving them independence, reassurance and peace of mind.
What are the benefits of Dudley Telecare?
- Can support social inclusion
- Peace of mind for family and carers
- Enables early intervention/prevention
- Maintains and enhances independence
- Makes life easier with Telecare solutions
- Promotes earlier discharge from hospital
- Enables a rapid response to emergencies
- Safety and security in the home and community
- Delays/avoids care home or hospital admissions
- Supports carers' wellbeing, reducing anxiety and stress
How much does it cost?
The Dudley Telecare Service is charged at £23.40 plus VAT per month. This is a standard charge, which is not dependant on the number of Telecare products installed in the property. There is also a one-off set-up and installation charge of £30 plus VAT.
If you have a low income and already receive help in relation to your Council Tax through the Council Tax Reductions scheme, you may be entitled to a discount on the monthly charges. For further information and to see if you are eligible please call 0300 555 2040.
How do Dudley Telecare solutions work?
A range of unobtrusive and flexible Telecare solutions can be installed in the home, by one of our team. These are linked to our emergency monitoring centre in Dudley.
Our professional and experienced call handlers respond to our customers emergency requirements. They take calls through their alarm system and triage an appropriate response.
Should the caller have fallen, and we can establish that they are not injured. We have a trained, in house, falls response service that we can deploy, and aim to respond within 45 minutes.
Customers, family and friends can have constant reassurance that help, and support is always at hand.
Our equipment is easy to install. All have built in sensors to monitor and alert to potential accidents and emergencies, such as a person falling, flooding or fire. The sensors are linked to Dudley Telecare’s monitoring centre and alert the operators within seconds that there is a potential problem or hazard occurring in the home.
Customers can also choose for the call to be transmitted to a carer’s pager (Care Assist) so that they can personally respond.
Explore your support needs through Dudley Adults Portal
How to apply?
Referrals for the service can be made by:
- yourself
- your relatives or advocates
- staff from health, social care, housing or voluntary agencies
Please click on the link to the Dudley Adults Portal above. If you are unable to complete this, please call 0300 555 0055 for assistance.
Further Information
Telecare Service Range
Details on the range of Telecare equipment.
Alarms
Bogus caller button/panic alarm - Enables users to summon help if they are worried by unwanted callers.
Care Assist - Offers the same functionality as our pendant alarms but doesn't call the monitoring centre. It will directly alert a family member/carer via an audible alert and vibration.
Individual alarm - intelligent centres at the heart of the home to help people of all ages to live independently. A call can be made from anywhere in the home to the monitoring centre or relative simply by pressing a pendant or the call button on the unit.
Pendant triggers - Pendant triggers can be neck or wrist worn – an emergency call can be initiated by pressing the large red button. They can also be used to answer any incoming telephone calls via speakerphone mode from the individual alarm.
Pillow alert - Helps to forewarn users with hearing impairments to the activation of a smoke detector via visual indication or physical vibration of a pillow pad.
Sounder beacon - Is for anyone who needs additional notification of alerts from the Telecare sensors. Then activated the sounder beacon will flash and generate an alert sound.
Sensors
Bed chair/occupancy sensor - Is used at night time when a personal trigger or fall detector cannot be worn. It comprises an unobtrusive, under-mattress pad which detects when someone has left their bed and can turn on lights to prevent falling in poor visibility. It can also activate an alarm if it senses an individual has not returned to bed after a long period of time, and can summon help in case of a fall.
Epilepsy sensor - The Emfit epileptic seizure alarm is a sensor that monitors individuals with epilepsy and detects seizures that may occur while they sleep.
Property exit sensors - Can be used for people suffering from memory problems who may be prone to wandering from their property and alert family.
Temperature extreme sensor - Provides advanced alerts of extreme household temperatures, it alerts an alarm when temperatures drop below 2°C, rise above 35°C or if a temperature rises quickly, for example in a fire.
Detectors
Enuresis detector - consists of a think waterproof and durable sensor mat, positioned between the mattress and top sheet of a bed. On detection of moisture it sends a signal to an alarm centre.
Fall detector - a wrist worn device, it detects a fall followed by a sudden impact, if the orientation of the user doesn't change in 15 seconds it activates a call to the monitoring centre.
Flood detector - sends an alert if a water source in the home begins to flood, bringing prevention and reassurance to the user.
Passive Infra Red (PIR) detector - senses movement and monitors for inactivity in a defined area. As part of a falls system it can raise an alert should there be no movement in a room for a prolonged period of time. You can then communicate with the monitoring centre via a two way speech facility.
Smoke detector - raise alert to fires in the home.
Other Aids
GPS Tracker - Small devices can be given to an individual with memory problems who could be at risk of getting lost when outside their property. Family / Carers can access the co-ordinates of the individuals location via a simple text message to their phone.
Lifestyle monitoring - Small wireless sensors can be fitted around the home to allow monitoring of the client and develop a tailored care package to meet their needs.
Ownphone - Small mobile devices for people who do not have telephone lines in their property. They include a red button that can be pressed to alert the emergency contact centre.
Pill dispenser - Suitable for users of all ages, the pill dispenser removes the burden of remembering which tablets to take and when.
Pull cord - Can be positioned anywhere in a room and can be used to raise a rapid alarm if a client has fallen over without their personal trigger or fall detector.
