The transition from analogue to digital telecare – Why is it important?

You might just be wanting to know more about digital telecare in general, due to it being spoken about and used more frequently in the health and social care sector since the pandemic. Or you may want to find out what other telecare providers are offering so you can figure out what is best for you and your community.

At The Access Group we want to make sure all local communities transition to digital telecare safely and effectively to mitigate any risks. Assure can support the transformation to digital telecare and ensure that all care providers and local authorities are aware of what the analogue to digital telecare programme will look like, and what features of digital telecare you should have to make sure you have to ensure your community gets the best outcomes.

In this article we will review the importance of digitally transforming telecare services, the challenges that may occur when implementing digital telecare, and how to overcome them, as well as how our proactive and preventative telecare services at The Access Group can go one step further to provide the best continuity of care for your local community.

Analogue vs Digital telecare – What is the difference?

Ultimately both analogue telecare and digital telecare aim to provide care from a distance to help vulnerable people live safer and more independently in their own homes.

There are currently around 1.7 million vulnerable people who rely on telecare services in the UK and many analogue telecare alarm services are becoming less and less reliable. Many have seen a rise in failed alarm call attempts with one provider reporting a failure rate of 11.5% for the first alarm attempt, and unfortunately these numbers are continuing to rise. So in order to overcome this, the need to transform digitally is crucial.

How does analogue telecare work?

Analogue telecare as we know today, prior to any switchovers, tends to work as follows:

1. The end-user will have either alarms, motion sensors, or both
2. These sensors and alarms will be connected wirelessly to a controller device connected via an analogue phone line
3. When an alarm or sensor goes off a signal will be sent via the analogue phone line to the Public Switch Telephone Network (PSTN) to an alarm receiving centre (ARC)
4. Here the signal will be connected to an agent where the next call to action will be decided

How does digital telecare work?

Typically analogue telecare devices are designed to send voice calls over the PSTN network. Often when analogue devices try to connect with an ARC via a digital network, emergency calls can be corrupted and fail to connect.

Digital telecare therefore offers the solution to this problem, and with the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) being switched off by 2025, the move to go digital is imminent.

To make telecare services more reliable, digital telecare services will replace the PSTN Network with a new system voiceover internet protocol (an ALL-IP digital solution). This means that telecare emergency calls will no longer be received via traditional analogue methods and instead they will rely on data packets being sent over the digital network. Many companies will have their own name for it such as BT Digital Voice.

With the PSTN switching off in 2025, health and social care organsiations, housing associations and other organsiations alike will have to upgrade their telecare services, as those who don’t will be left behind.

Telecare services are vital in preventing and delaying the development of further care and support needs and can act as a lifeline when needed. Moving to digital telecare therefore creates a basis for a next generation of telecare which can offer more personalised and preventative care.

Analogue Vs Digital Telecare – Why is the digital transition important?

The transition to digital telecare is important as ultimately many vulnerable telecare users are at risk of losing their daily protection when telephone lines go digital.

Currently many telecare providers use analogue equipment and these devices will no longer be compatible or perform as reliably when the digital telecare switchover takes place.

It is essential therefore all telecare providers digitally transform their service to ensure they have the best continuity of care ready for when the switchover takes place. Additionally it is essential that analogue to digital telecare policies are considered when digitally migrating. One of the most important being that telecare users are at the heart of every decision made so no one’s level of care and support is decreased during the transition phase.

Digital telecare and care technology in general involves providing arrangements for people to manage both long and short-term conditions more effectively in their own homes. This helps put people in control of their own health and wellbeing and increase their independence to reduce pressures on the NHS and care homes.

Here through implementing digital telecare in your local community you can help individuals have a better quality of life by decreasing the number of hospital admissions. This in turn helps to reduce hospital discharge delays as the data collected with digital telecare will determine what support is best for the end-user instead of relying on healthcare professionals consistently, especially when it might not always be necessary.

For local authorities digital telecare offers the ability to control devices remotely meaning home visits becomes less necessary. This helps reduce costs to allow funding to be spent elsewhere to improve outcomes further. Some digital telecare services can also setup different kind of alerts so that different key holders can step in depending on the severity of a situation. This helps to reduce the reliance on healthcare, emergency services, and telecare providers for less severe issues. These cost savings can then help to offset the initial transition to digital telecare, which depending on the size of a local authority could be very expensive initially.

Transitioning to digital telecare therefore is important as it offers both the end-user and their families reassurance that they will be provided the best and most appropriate care and support regardless of their care needs. The more reliable service compared to analogue telecare will mean there will no longer be failed emergency calls, so they will receive the care they need when they need it.

Transition from analogue to digital telecare – What do we know so far?

The UK Government has published their latest updates on the analogue to digital telecare switchover. In the report they have highlighted that there has not been the expected acceleration in the number of telecare users being migrated to digital. Due to this stagnated progress more telecare users will be migrated over in 2024 and 2025 than they envisaged.

In the report they also stated that there are variations in the digital maturity of services which is making the migration more difficult including switching the alarm receiving centres and the availability to finance upgrades and replace equipment. This is particularly the case for sheltered housing.

Because of this, timescales have now been revised so progress can continuously be tracked throughout 2023 and 2024 where bi-annual reports will be published to keep everyone updated.

With local authorities making up 70% of telecare service providers, the UK Government have encouraged local authorities to review and follow the LGA’s switchover checklist to ensure their community is fully prepared so end-users can experience the switchover with minimal disruption.

It has also been suggested that care providers identify the equipment and systems they have which operate or are connected to a telephone line to create an audit ready to discuss their switchover with their equipment providers or suppliers. Through being prepared it can also allow time for care providers to notify their end-users so they are aware of why it is happening and what it will mean for them.

Currently there is very little awareness from telecare users that this switchover is happening, it is important they are aware and understand so the changes can happen in a reasonable timeframe.

With an estimated half a million telecare devices being used in a range of care homes, supported housing, and sheltered living arrangements, it is vital the switchover happens as smooth as possible. The rest of this article will now discuss the challenges your care providers and local authorities could face during the switchover and how best to overcome them.

What are the challenges of implementing digital telecare?

When done correctly the transition from analogue to digital telecare can be seamless. It is crucial that guidelines and policies help local authorities deliver digital telecare that is reliable, safe, and cybersecure. But in order for this to happen local authorities need to be aware of the challenges that can occur including the challenges providing telecare to older adults and how to overcome them for the best outcomes.

1. Data Protection

One of the biggest challenges when transitioning to digital telecare is data protection. Unlike analogue telecare systems, digital telecare collects a lot more data to identify day-to-day routines and forecast when individuals may need more support more accurately. With that in mind it is essential that end-users data is protected thoroughly.

In order to make sure that is the case, investing in digital telecare operating with cloud systems is best. Here using a digital telecare service connected with a cloud based system makes sure that only authorized users can access certain levels of data stored in the cloud. That way end-users can feel more reassured that not only will they receive the right level of care when they need it, no personal information will be at risk of being leaked or at risk of being used maliciously.

2. Regulations

Another challenge when transitioning to digital telecare which local authorities will need to be aware of and keep up-to-date with is regulation changes. This is because as technology continues to advance, regulations may become outdated. It is important therefore when developing your digital transformation plan, you must be aware of external factors you cannot control and plan how these risks will be managed and mitigated.

3. Risk to service users

A major concern for end-users of telecare currently is how will the transition impact them. In order to prevent this you need your local authority to reassure these end-users that the transition will be seamless and only them positively. To do this you need to be prepared when there might be technical difficulties and how to overcome them.

In Scotland’s transition to digital telecare for example, there have been 12 areas where service users’ alarms have been deactivated or lost their functionality with no notice. Some transitioned successfully, however others did not and were left in that state.

It is crucial that all end-users are notified when their switchover will take place and are consistently notified if they are any connectivity issues during the transition.

4. Cost

One challenge that could be huge for some local authorities is the cost implication of the transition. Most local authorities will be required to replace the old alarms with a new GSM (Global System for Mobile Communication) device.

In order to make best use of your resources you need to be aware of the number of GSM boxes and SIM cards that will be needed initially to be prepared for the increase in budget that might be needed. Through planning this effectively, every individual that needs it will have the resources they need.

Planning for every step and challenge which could occur when developing your transition plan is essential to prevent major disruption. Every decision should benefit the end-users. If a challenge occurs then contingency plans should be in place and end-users must be notified so there is no confusion.

Through being fully prepared and aware of challenges that could arise and how to overcome them your local authority will be more open to new digital opportunities which will provide better person-centred care for your community.

Analogue to Digital Telecare Programme – What do you need to know?

In order for your local authority to be best prepared for the digital switchover following guidelines and analogue to digital telecare policies is crucial.

TSA, the voice of Technology Enabled Care, have released a checklist which buyers and commissioners should follow to ensure the transition is seamless. Some of the most important things from the checklist but not limited to includes:

1. Requirement Consensus – Stakeholders must review their desired outcomes to ensure they work in order to satisfy the IT, Security and Health and Safety Teams
2. Soft Market Testing – Buyers and commissioners must explore what is available on the market to understand what digital telecare company will best suit their local authority’s needs
3. Procurement routes – Local authorities need to evaluate how best to procure the digital telecare services they will provide whether it is a static or a dynamic purchasing framework (DPS)
4. Digital interoperability – Local authorities should be aware of what level of interoperability they need
5. Alarm connectivity – Local authorities need to check the capabilities of different digital telecare with and without SIM cards and how that will impact their community
6. Quality Standards Framework (QSF) – TSA recommend that commissioners make it mandatory for organisations involved into the end-to-end delivery of technology enabled care to be certified by TEC Quality according to the Quality Standards Framework
7. KPIS – all local authorities need to be sure on what their KPIs are and that they follow the standard QSF

Analogue Vs Digital Telecare – How can Access Technology Enabled Care (TEC) help?

Like previously discussed transitioning to digital telecare offers a shift to a more preventative care approach.

At The Access TEC our Assure service goes one step further than this by using intelligence data to make better informed decisions about the care end-users will receive. Our Home Hub allows all data to be collected and presented onto one single platform. More recently our Home Hub now integrates with our care planning solution to give carers visibility of smart alerts and alarms from the hub in our care planning mobile app so all the information needed is located in one place. Equally, information from each care visit is also pushed back into the Assure app so loved ones also have full visibility 24/7.

Here our insight-driven approach to care assessment, planning, and commissioning helps deliver better proactive care by reducing risks and identifying issues before something more critical occurs. Carers can also make better data-driven decisions and be notified of changes to schedules in real time to deliver more timely support when smart alerts and alarms get triggered.

We address a key gap within the current social care system to make a real difference across the care continuum from hospital to home and other supported and residential care settings. This helps reduce the increasing pressure on the NHS by reducing the number of hospital admissions and hospital discharge delays. Our Assure service offers the opportunity for more medically fit patients to be discharged and use a proactive and preventative care model in their own home.

We can apply a population health approach by classifying the at risk groups of your local community to help identify the people at risk of reaching crisis before it happens. Because of this, hospital readmissions can also be reduced as our alerts can be sent before something more critical takes place, allowing more opportunity for better interventions, reducing cost implications due to emergencies, and ultimately providing a better quality of life. 

Analogue vs Digital Telecare – Summarising the importance of the transition

In this article we have reviewed the difference in how analogue and digital telecare services work. We have acknowledged that analogue telecare services are becoming less reliable and how the transition to move to digital is crucial with PSTN network switching off in 2025.

This article has explained why it is important to transition to digital telecare and what can happen to individuals that rely on telecare if the transition does not take place. Through transitioning to digital telecare communities can experience many benefits. Waiting times, hospital admissions, and discharged delays can all be reduced as individuals can learn how to manage their conditions more efficiently in their own homes without having to rely on healthcare professionals continuously.

We have explained that at The Access Group we want to go further than just offering a reactive digital telecare alarm service and instead offer both a proactive and preventative approach which allows users the freedom to more, clinicians the opportunity to access all information in one place to save them time, and most importantly a better quality of life.

For more information on how our digital telecare and technology enabled care can help make your local communities’ transition to digital telecare the smoothest with minimal disruption contact us today, so we can help increase independence and deliver better person-centred care for a better quality of life.