AGENDA ITEM NO. 24
REPORT TO:Executive Board
REPORT NO:PAW/13/09
DATE:24February 2009
LEAD MEMBER:Councillor Joan Lowe
(Social Care and Health)
LEAD OFFICER:Philip Walton, Strategic Director
CONTACT OFFICER:Ben Carter (Tel: 297018)
Robert Louden (Tel: 315521)
SUBJECT:Telecare Project Update
WARD:All
1.PURPOSE OF THE REPORT
To update Members on the transfer of the CareCall service to Chesterand District Housing Trust and implementation of the new Telecare Service.
2. Information
2.1 Further to the report regarding the Telecare Project Manager that was presented to Executive Board on 20th January 2009 (PAW/06/09), this report provides an update on the current position of the Telecare project.
2.2 The Council has been delivering the new Telecare Service,to both existing and new Service Users, in partnership with Chester and District Housing Trust (CDHT) since 1st December 2008.
2.3The new Telecare Service providesan enhanced level of service by introducing additional Telecare equipment and the new Telecare Emergency Response Service that can visit a customer at home in an emergency.
2.4All existing CareCall Service Users and the Council’s Out of Hours telephone calls are now being successfully monitored by CDHT. Initial feedback from Service Users and Staff using the service has been mainly positive, with any transitional issues being resolved quickly.
2.5The Care Call members of staff who transferred to CDHT have settled in well and their knowledge and experience has helped to ensure the smooth transition of the Service.
2.6The first phase of the project has been to safely transfer over existing Service Users and the Out Of Hours calls. The second phase will focus on promoting both the new Basic and Enhanced Telecare Packages to the public and Health & Social Care professionals and plan how we can upgrade existing Service Users equipment.
2.7Approximately fifty new Telecare packages have been installed since 1st December 2008, with demand for the enhanced packages increasing as training and awareness raising takes place.
2.8The Emergency MobileResponse Service has been successfully used on a number of occasions to support Service Users in a crisis situation.
2.9The higher level of equipment testing and risk management undertaken by CDHT has highlighted a number of risks within the existing Care Call service that were previously unknown.
2.10The Telecare Project Team is working with CDHT to manage these risks and ensure that a robust and reliable service is delivered to all who use it.
2.11Officers have beenin negotiations with the Welsh Assembly Government (WAG), to obtain approval to roll the remaining £230,000 of the Telecare Grant into 2009/2010. Although the initial indication was that this may be possible we have now been advised by WAG that we cannot roll the grant forward.
2.12We do,however, now have the opportunity to use some of the grant to startupgrading the old equipment in existing Service Users homes. Running this concurrently with the project to install Key Safes (to allow access to the Telecare Emergency Response Service) will produce substantial saving in installation costs of approximately £50,000.
2.13Upgrading the existing alarm units will ensure that a reliable and robust Telecare service can be delivered to existing, as well as new, Service Users and enable access to the Telecare Emergency Response Service and provide the platform onto which additional Telecare sensors can be added in the future. The equipment would require upgrading over the next few years due to introduction of the BT 21st Century Network.
2.14We are therefore currently in the process of planning the programme for installation of new base alarm units to existing CareCall Service Users at the same time as the Key Safe installations, over the next six months.
2.15The cost of purchasing the new equipment and installation for these upgrades is approximately £205,000 (£171,000 equipment, £34,000 installation), the majority of which will be paid for from the Telecare Grant. The remaining element of the Telecare Grant will be used to purchase equipment for new Telecare Packages for 2009/2010.
2.16Supporting People will then contribute towards the funding of the ongoing Telecare equipment for new packages over the next few years to the extent that the grant is used to fund the upgrades.
2.17The Telecare equipment will be purchased via the NHS Purchasing and Supplies Network (PASA)Framework Contract.
2.18The Chief Finance and Performance Officer has approved an exception to the Procurement Financial Regulation (under paragraph 10.7)for the installations to be undertaken by CHDT, as there is no genuine alternative due to the specialist nature of this equipment and the urgency of the matter.
2.19The delegated authority for the expenditure of the Telecare Grant was given to Philip Walton in consultation with the Telecare Project Management Board on 8thMay 2007.
2.20The Telecare Project Management Board will continue to meet periodically to keep a strategic overview of the new service and the evaluation of outcomes, to enable the debate around the future balance of funding of the service with Health and Social Care to take place. It will also need to ensure that the Service keeps up-to-date with new Technological developments and engage with the Regional Telecare Board.
- RECOMMENDATION
3.1That Members note the contents of the report.
BACKGROUND PAPERS / LOCATION / WEBSITE INFO.The Telecare Services Strategy for Wrexham
Previous Reports:
PAW/02/08
PAW/16/08/s
PAW/21/07s
PAW/07/07
PAW/19/08
PAW/05/09
PAW/06/09 /