(openPR) - English Churches Housing Group (ECHG), one of the largest providers of sheltered and supported housing services in the UK, has announced a major upgrade to its infrastructure to make it 21CN compliant, in order to better support the delivery of services to its 6000 sheltered housing tenants.
21CN is BT’s new digital network, which is being rolled out across the whole of the UK and can affect the transmission of tone-based protocols between social alarms and monitoring centres. Without the necessary upgrades, this could result in an alarm activation not raising an alert, posing a serious risk to ECHG tenants.
A number of ECHG schemes were prioritised for upgrade to make them 21CN compliant and the countrywide upgrade will future-proof the infrastructure in order to protect older and vulnerable tenants living within ECHG’s sheltered accommodation. The project is being carried out in partnership with leading telecare specialist Tunstall and it will enable tenants to remain in their own homes for longer.
By partnering with Tunstall, ECHG also expect to make annual cost savings of £220,000 in monitoring and maintenance as a result of the new communication systems. Without the upgrade the cost of maintaining the older equipment would have been significantly higher. The cost savings will be re-invested to further improve housing and services for older people.
ECHG is installing Tunstall’s Communicall Connect, an advanced telecare-enabled system, at a number of its sheltered housing schemes across the country. On-site scheme managers and other staff have a network of radio receivers giving full-site coverage, a management terminal and site-wide paging system, which immediately alerts them to the source and nature of an alert so that timely and effective assistance can be provided to tenants. Communicall Connect provides a 24-hour communication system for tenants, which allows them to remain independent and there is also the option of including telecare sensors into their package of care on an individual basis if required to support changing health and social care requirements.
Telecare packages are customised to meet the individual needs of each tenant and sensors work together to manage risks by raising an alarm with on site staff or the monitoring centre and provide reassurance for the tenants, enabling them to live safely and independently. ECHG provides services and accommodation to meet a broad range of users with a wide variety of needs.
Judith Crowther, Director of Older People’s Services at ECHG, said: “We are committed to providing a service which actively encourages individuals to remain in their own homes for as long as possible and to enjoy valuable independence and an enhanced quality of life. Telecare enables tenants to do just that, keeping them safe, giving them their privacy and also the reassurance that help is at hand when required and Communicall is part of our response to that.”
Jon Lowe, UK Managing Director at Tunstall added: “The work being done by ECHG is an excellent example of an organisation taking proactive measures to ensure the safety of their tenants by deploying telecare which delivers real and tangible benefits to older and vulnerable people through increased security, monitoring and support.”
About Tunstall
Tunstall is the market-leading provider of telecare and telehealth solutions, with over 2.5 million users globally. Tunstall’s solutions support older people and those with long-term needs, to live independently, by effectively managing their health and well-being. Tunstall provides technology, expertise and advice to millions of people enabling them to lead independent more fulfilling lives. For more information on how telecare and telehealth can improve quality of life, visit www.tunstall.co.uk
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