ITEM 5 Community Alarms
North Lanarkshire Council · 21 August 2024
Back to IJB Performance, Finance and Audit Committee — 21 August 2024 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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1 REPORT Item No: 5 SUBJECT: Community Alarm Service TO: Integration Joint Board Performance, Finance & Audit Committee Lead Officer for Report: Diane Fraser, Chief Officer / Head of Service (Adult Social Work Services) NL HSCP Author(s) of Report John McGeough, Service Manager Hugh Holt, Senior Officer DATE: 21 August 2024 1. PURPOSE OF REPORT This paper is coming to the IJB PFA for: For Approval: ☐ For Endorsement: ☐ To Note: ☒ 2. ROUTE TO THE BOARD This paper has been prepared by the Community Alarm Service Management Team. Prepared By: John McGeough, Service Manager Hugh Holt, Senior Officer ☒ Reviewed By: Margaret Flavell, Senior Manager Adult Social Work ☒ Endorsed By: Diane Fraser Chief Officer, Adult Social Work ☒
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2 3. RECOMMENDATIONS It is recommended that the IJB PFA Committee: (1) Acknowledge the contents of this Community Alarm Service update report. (2) Acknowledge the ongoing work being undertaken to support the transition from analogue to digital and the work completed to date. (3) Acknowledge the progress and challenges of progressing the move to the new digital ARC platform and the extensive work completed to date in preparation for this. (4) Acknowledge the positive Care Inspectorate grading that the service received from the Care Inspectorate. (5) Acknowledge the position with current and future charging for the service. 4. VARIATIONS TO DIRECTIONS? This section outlines if the report requires a direction to be issued to the Local Authority, the Health Board, to both, or that no direction is required 5. BACKGROUND/SUMMARY OF KEY ISSUES 5.1 The Community Alarm Service operates 24 hours per day, 7 days a week, 365 days per year. When the individual activates the alarm, a signal is sent via the telephone line to the alarm receiving centre in North Lanarkshire which is staffed 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. A Response Advisor (call handler) speaks directly to the person to find out what kind of assistance is required. 5.2 The service currently provides support to 7,724 people in North Lanarkshire with the confidence that they can call for help at any time of the day or night, every day of the year and is an essential service when people experience difficulties such as a fall or sudden illness. 5.3 The number of people supported by the community alarm service has remained relatively static since the previous report submitted in May 2023 with a slight increase in numbers , with most service users living within their own home however the service also provides cover to all tenants living within NLC Sheltered Housing Complexes during out of hours and variously to registered social landlords across North Lanarkshire. 5.4 The Community Alarm Service currently provides a telecare service currently to 6,158 service users using dispersed analogue and or digital community alarms and to 1,566 users within sheltered accommodation. 5.5 The service on average receives around 130 new requests per month for Community Alarm installations, the number of new referrals received per month has remained consistent with the figures from 2023/24. Yes ☐ No ☒ N/A ☐
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3 5.6 In addition to the basic button and box which people associate with Community Alarms, there are over 1,000 pieces of assistive technology programmed through to the alarm receiving centre. This ranges from door contacts to hard wired smoke detectors for individuals with cognitive impairment, This has remained static since the previous report. 5.7 Within the last report to committee the service was planning to conduct a wide- ranging service review, however following feedback from various stakeholders and improved Care Inspection grades it was evident that the service was effective, staff were committed, and service users satisfied with the support provided therefore the scope of the review was adjusted, to focus on the staffing element of the service. A more detailed breakdown of service user engagement and participation is discussed later within the report. 5.8 The staffing resource aligned to the service has not been reviewed for a significant number of years and given the ongoing work of transitioning the service from analogue to digital, as well as increased call activity within the alarm receiving centre the decision was taken to review the staffing resource aligned to this aspect of the service. 5.9 University North Lanarkshire Health and Social Care Partnership (UNL HSCP) and North Lanarkshire Council (NLC) have invested significantly in early intervention and supported self-management for over a decade, with support for change and investment across all sectors which focus on wellbeing. The Community Alarm Service is a key part of supporting self-management with technological advancements creating the opportunity to move from being a crisis response service to being more proactive and preventative. 5.10 The above circumstances summarise the importance of the Community Alarms Service, the changes to the digital infrastructure and need to review the staffing compliment to ensure we realise the priorities and ambitions of the North Lanarkshire Health and Social Care Strategic Commissioning Plan. Analogue to Digital Transition 5.11 Telephone lines in the UK are being upgraded to digital technology. The process of migrating to digital telephone lines has already started. The rollout was scheduled to be completed by the end of 2025, when analogue telephone services in the UK will be switched off and replaced by digital systems using internet protocol (IP) technology. 5.12 Telecommunication suppliers are well on their journey to making this switch to ‘IP networks.’ Any systems relying on analogue lines, such as telecare, will be affected by this change. Individuals who have been provided with Analogue telecare equipment from North Lanarkshire Council must have their equipment updated to Digital ready devices to continue to receive a safe and reliable service.
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4 5.13 Recent updates from Telephony providers such as British Telecom, have outlined they now expect all customers to be migrated over to a digital line by January 2027, other companies are also in the process of reviewing their timescales. 5.14 Despite the potential change in dates that will impact on the analogue to digital switchover, the community alarm service will continue to progress the digital upgrade as planned and hope to ensure that all service users in receipt of the community alarm service are fully digitised by the end of 2025. 5.15 North Lanarkshire as outlined in its previous report has been working closely with the Digital Office for Scottish Local Government. Across Scotland, most current solutions use analogue dial-up protocols to carry status and alarm signalling between the alarms devices in users’ homes and the Alarm Receiving Centres (ARC) - North Lanarkshire’s ARC is based in the Dalziel Building in Motherwell. Digital IP telephone lines are not designed to support these analogue protocols meaning that there is a risk that telecare alarm signalling will not operate reliably. This may result in a higher number of failed calls and redials being seen by the Community Alarm responders on the ARC system. 5.16 The plan for North Lanarkshire Council’s community alarm service is to transition to the new national digital ARC, this will ensure that the Alarm Receiving Centre (ARC) is fully digitised and will meet the digital requirements of our service while minimising the risks to analogue failures as the decommissioning of these old analogue lines progress. 5.17 This will allow the Partnership to adopt a new Digital Solution that will meet future requirements and can be customised to our specific operational requirements. This work has included 13 other local authorities to ensure that a robust and secure solution can be found. At the time of writing several local authorities have successfully transitioned over to the new digital ARC that will be supported by Chubb and Sky Response. 5.18 The transition to digital has required the service to review all alarm devices that are in place within homes in the community and sheltered house residences and replace these current analogue devices with digital ready alarm devices. There will also be a requirement for digitally enabled peripherals such as falls detectors, door contacts etc, to be thoroughly tested to ensure that they are compatible with the new digital alarm receiving centre and alarm device. The ability to connect existing interconnected fire/smoke detectors via the digital alarm is currently not available. The Scottish Government are working with manufacturers on solutions to connect these devices to remove the need for multiple detectors to be in the same room. 5.19 The service has already changed around 3000 analogue alarms to a Hybrid digital ready unit which do not use the analogue telephone line, with a further 1000 planned to be exchanged by November 2024.
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5 5.20 North Lanarkshire currently runs PNC 8.1 an analogue ARC provided by Tunstall Healthcare (UK) Ltd on servers within the NLC infrastructure. The current contract was due to end on the 31st of March 2024, however due to delays in the contract being awarded for the new digital ARC, an interim solution was required due to the current contract ending, as well as the current Tunstall Infrastructure and servers coming to the end of their life. 5.21 Work was undertaken by colleagues from the council’s IT infrastructure team who concluded that to reduce the potential risks to North Lanarkshire Council it was agreed that the services digital voice recorders would be switched off reducing risks of unsupported equipment failure occurring until a more robust plan could be put in place in the interim. 5.22 The Interim Software as A Solution (SAAS) has been procured from Tunstall because of the current servers that support the current Alarm Receiving Centre end of life. Colleagues from Infrastructure had determined that to do nothing would pose a real threat to the Community Alarm Service and the wider Council IT infrastructure, therefore an interim solution has been agreed. 5.23 The service has entered a 1-year contract for the SAAS solution with an option for a further year if required. The total contract amount is £107,000, however the service has a 90-day notice period to cancel the contract early, should the service be able to move to the new digital ARC, therefore reducing the costs of the overall contract. 5.24 Housing have undertaken an upgrade of all Sheltered Housing developments to a new Warden Call system that will be fully digital ready when the Digital ARC is implemented and are installing equipment in the remaining developments (which were upgraded a few years ago) to have a Digital connection available in readiness for the move to Digital. 5.25 The Community Alarm Service and the Technology team have supported housing colleagues throughout this process, ensuring hybrid digital alarms were placed in residents’ homes to ensure no loss of support throughout these works being completed. 5.26 There has been an increase in failing calls from Analogue devices identified across the UK because of the ongoing upgrades to Digital Telephony infrastructure we have seen this within our own Community Alarm Service where the primary number used to connect fails, but the backup number then successfully connects. This is being investigated with IT colleagues to identify what further resilience can be put in place to reduce these failures. Data Migration 5.27 The current data held on the Tunstall PNC system has over 25,000 client records, of which only 7700 are current users. With the current PNC system there is no facility to “batch” delete the 18,000 archived records. When the
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6 service migrates to the Digital ARC, we will be charged per client record, therefor it is imperative that only the current records are migrated to the new system. 5.28 Significant work has been undertaken to try and retrieve this data from the current PNC system, however as the service has no direct access to the databases on the PNC system, we are reliant on Tunstall providing this to us in a usable status. 5.29 The digital ARC provider has also recently developed a piece of software that they advise will do this conversion for us from the raw data but will have an associated cost yet unknown and will also require the same interrogation and verification required as the direct data from Tunstall noted above. Capital Spend 5.30 Capital monies have been set aside to support the transition from analogue to digital within the Community alarm Service. 5.31 During the course of the financial year 23/24 £325,000 had been spent purchasing 1500 hybrid alarms. 5.32 Due to ongoing testing of digital devices, it was decided after extensive testing by the technology team that 1000 LeGrande alarm devices be purchased, however due to delays with internal procurement processes, these will be purchased from the 2024/25 budget. 5.33 It is anticipated that £1,275,000 will be available to continue with the purchase of hybrid digital alarms in this financial year. 5.34 There is a projected increase in cost therefore a funding gap for future years that requires to be sourced. Community Alarm Service Review 5.35 Following the previous report submitted to committee in 2023 there had been discussions in relation to a whole service review in relation to the Community Alarm Service. 5.36 As part of the services efforts to have meaningful engagement with service users and wider stakeholders, the service engaged with the third sector to arrange a number of events across North Lanarkshire, Several dates and venues were confirmed with events advertised on the council’s social media pages, X, Facebook etc, unfortunately, there was no uptake to allow the events to go ahead. 5.37 Following the poor uptake of events advertised across North Lanarkshire, the service then resorted to engaging with our service user base through arranging forums within Sheltered Housing Complexes, Integrated Day Services so that
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7 the service was able to gauge service users views of the community alarm service. 5.38 During the last 12 months the service has attended various events and spoke directly to 202 Service users at a variety of events across North Lanarkshire. 5.39 Feedback from service users was very positive, with many advising that having the Community Alarm provided them with reassurance should they experience a fall, required reassurance or required support with personal care. 5.40 The service also issued a questionnaire seeking service users feedback on the Community Alarm service, 124 questionnaires were returned. The findings of the questionnaire were that service users were satisfied with the service provided and that staff were helpful, polite and treated people with dignity and respect. 5.41 The service recently held an awareness day for Health and Social Care staff, stakeholders and third sector organisations over a 2-day period to provide more information and insight into the Community Alarm Service and how the service operates and functions. 5.42 Over the course of the 2 days, more than 200 people attended, with most leaving with a better understanding that the community alarm service is more than a button and box, type service. People were genuinely interested as to how the service operated and how we support service users who activate the community alarm. 5.43 Several focus groups were held with community alarm staff over a number of weeks in late 2023, each focus group was provided with an open platform to share their feedback, views, knowledge, and insight into the community alarm service. 5.44 The feedback was grouped into themes and further analysed to identify several important issues. Overall staff were incredibly positive about their roles/responsibilities and proud of the impact that their service had on individuals needing support from the community alarm service. 5.45 The key role benefits that staff described were the variety, flexibility, a strong team ethos, job satisfaction and most staff found the role to be rewarding. 5.46 There were some operational issues identified and most of them were resolved following the sessions. The main operational concern staff raised was the Community Alarm transport as this was becoming aged and unreliable due to age and mileage of these vehicles. Staff also raised some concerns regarding the shift patterns. 5.47 Both of these issues have subsequently been addressed with the Community Alarm Services ageing fleet of vehicles having been replaced in March 2024.
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8 The shift pattern concerns outlined by response advisors has also been addressed with a change to start and finish times for each of the three responder shift patterns resulting in a better work life balance and consistent work schedule. 5.48 It is evident that all staff employed within the community alarm service are committed and this has been evident with how staff across the service have responded with the introduction of new digital technology into the service. 5.49 The Assisted Technology Team have worked closely with the service and worked to support the response advisors as the new digital alarm platforms have come onstream. 5.50 The Care Inspectorate, the services regulator conducted an unannounced inspection of the community alarm service in April 2023, following the inspection the service was graded as follows: How well do we support people wellbeing - Grade 5 Very Good How good is out Leadership - Grade 4 Good How Good is our staff team - Grade 5 Very Good 5.51 Following the Inspection Care Inspectors were complimentary on the service provided across North Lanarkshire by the community alarm service and feedback obtained during the inspection process from both service users and staff was positive and this was reflected in the grades awarded. All previous requirements had been met and the service has currently no requirements. 5.52 The service recognises that the staffing resource has not been reviewed within the community alarm service since its inception, however given the service growth as well as prioritising the move from an analogue to digital solution as well as the introduction of new digital technology it is evident that a review of the staffing structure is required. 5.53 The alarm receiving centre is manned 24hrs per day, Response Advisors respond to all incoming and outgoing activity in relation to community alarm and take calls for the Social Work Emergency Service (SWES) from 1.30am till locality offices open or when the team come on site at weekends. 5.54 The alarm receiving centre typically has more than over 40,000 call episodes per month, however most of these calls are to provide reassurance to service users within their own homes. 5.55 A Benchmarking exercise has been completed with other Alarm Receiving Centres in terms of response advisors manning the service 24 hours per day, North Lanarkshire has 3 response advisors on shift at any given time, however when compared to other Local Authorities our staffing numbers are on the lower end for staff resources.
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9 5.56 Response advisors are a crucial part of the community alarm service; however, the establishment of this staff group has never been reviewed and during 2023 the service required to cover 900 additional shifts due to staff planned and unplanned leave. 5.57 Response advisor staffing is currently being reviewed as part of the wider engagement of the Home Support structure as it is recognised that additional staffing is required within this aspect of the service. 5.58 From the 1st April 2024, the new Health and Care (Staffing) (Scotland) Act 2019 came into force. When enacted it revoked section 15 of the Public Service Reform (Scotland) Act 2010 and brings legislation requirements and guiding principles for those who commission and deliver health and social care services. 5.59 The Act also places a statutory duty on care service providers to ensure that, always, suitable qualified and competent individuals are working in such numbers as are appropriate for the health, wellbeing and safety of people using the service, and the provision of safe and high-quality care and in so far as it affects those matters the well-being of staff. Community Alarm Charging 5.60 Since the charge for community alarm was reintroduced in September 2020 a charge of £3.40 per week (49p per day) was agreed and the rate charged for the service has remained static during this period. Any calls made to the response centre are also billed as normal telephone calls by the person’s telephone company. 5.61 The charge for the community alarm service increased to £3.57 per week 51p per day) from the 1st April 2024, despite the slight increase being applied the charge for the community alarm service within North Lanarkshire remains one of the lowest when compared to all other local authorities across Scotland. A benchmarking exercise was undertaken to further understand charging across the country. 5.62 Despite the small increase in the charge no service users have handed back the alert alarm nor has the service received any complaints regarding the increase in charging. 5.63 The service continues to receive on average of 130 new referrals for installation of community alarms on a monthly basis. Those being referred to the service are aware of the charge and should be offered a referral to the tacking poverty team to ensure their income is maximised by the referring agency or service. 5.64 The number of service users in receipt of the Community Alarm service has remained stable, at 7,700. A significant amount of data cleansing was undertaken when the charge was reintroduced.
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10 5.65 The data cleansing exercise completed at the onset of the charge found that a significant number of service users had passed away, had moved into sheltered housing or had moved into a care home. The council’s data custodian supported the service with identifying these service users so that the data could be cleansed and updated to reflect actual service users in receipt of the community alarm. 5.66 Service users who had expressed concerns regarding the reintroduction of the charge were offered support to ensure that their income was maximised from the council’s financial inclusion team as it was known at the time. 5.67 It was recognised that the agreed charge would support the Council and the Integration Joint Board to continue to deliver this service to a high standard through having the appropriate staffing and financial resources to meet the needs of those who use the service. It would be damaging to the service and the partnership to reverse the current charging arrangements. 5.68 It should also be noted that the transition from Analogue to Digital alarms will continue to attract further operating costs as each alarm will have as a minimum one roaming SIM card, however two may be required if there is no home broadband connection that can be used as a primary connection to the ARC. Current costs for these roaming SIM cards are £4.00 per month per unit, the cost of which could increase annually in line with inflation. The Digital Office have indicated that they will engage with Telecom suppliers to try and negotiate a Social Tariff, however this has not progressed yet. Based on a current installed estate of 7,700 alarm units this will bring an operating cost of between £360,000 and £450,000 per annum (based on £4.00 per month current charge or an anticipated £5.00 per month) to support the new digital alarms. 5.69 The income generated from the charge for community alarms is important to the continued development of the service and increased operating costs associated with digital advancement. It is however important to note that the Council had not pursued the recovery of debt and as noted in previous Committee Reports, given the vulnerability of people using the service, individual community alarms will not be cut off due to non-payment. 5.70 Invoices generated within the financial year 2023/24 amounted to £998k for the Community Alarm charge, however £202k remained outstanding at the end of year finance reporting period. This represents around 20% of invoices remaining outstanding. Outstanding invoices can be for several factors and the service is not always notified e.g. service user deceased, moved to sheltered housing, hospital or care home admission, unknown reason and nonpayment choice. The actual income received to date for financial year 23/24 amounts to £796k.
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11 5.71 A sundry debt write off exercise is currently underway which will result in £137k of the outstanding debt being written off up to April 2022 as it has been deemed uneconomical to pursue. 5.72 At the point of the Charge being reintroduced in 2020 all recipients of the community alarm service were offered a review of their income by the financial inclusion team to ensure all benefits had been fully maximised. 5.73 Any recipient of the Community Alarm Service who make contact with the service to advise of financial difficulties in paying the charge is referred to the tackling poverty team (formerly financial inclusion team), however we would not remove someone’s alarm for nonpayment of the charge. 5.74 The service is continuing to review the number of non-payments that have accrued, and officers are working through information held within the mySWIS system. 6. CONCLUSIONS 6.1 This report gives an update on the Community Alarm Service. It highlights the work undertaken for the transition of analogue to digital; both the challenges and progress are noted. Additionally, the positive Community Alarm Service gradings from the Care Inspectorate are recognised. From engagement and consultation, it is agreed that the service staffing resource requires review. Finally, it notes the service charging position. 7. IMPLICATIONS 7.1 NATIONAL OUTCOMES Link(s) to National Health and Wellbeing Outcomes People are able to look after and improve their own health and wellbeing and live in good health for longer ☒ People, including those with disabilities or long-term conditions, or who are frail, are able to live, as far as reasonable practicable, independently and at home or in a homely setting in their community ☒ People who use Health and Social Care Services have positive experiences of those services, and have dignity respected ☒ Health and Social Care Services are centred on helping to maintain or improve the quality of life of people who use those services ☒ Health and Social Care Services contribute to reducing health inequalities ☒ People who use Health and Social Care Services are safe from harm ☒ People who work in Health and Social Care Services feel engaged with the work they do and are supported to continuously improve the information, support, care and treatment they provide ☒
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12 Resources are used effectively and efficiently in the provision of Health and Social Care Services ☒ 7.2 ASSOCIATED MEASURE(S) NA 7.3 FINANCIAL Financial implications contained within the report. This paper has been reviewed by Finance: Yes No N/A 7.4 RISK ASSESSMENT/RISK MANAGEMENT Relevant Risk Register Details Current Risk Level Risk Owner Analogue to Digital Transition Medium Graeme Cowan 7.5 ENGAGEMENT & PARTICIPATION Please tick the engagement and participation objectives that link(s) with this piece of work and provide further details on the engagement and participation that was undertaken. Objectives Further details ☒ Involve stakeholders in the development work aimed at achieving the national outcomes Regular engagement in a variety of ways – face to face sessions, newsletters, questionnaires ☒ Provide stakeholders with information on how to get involved As above ☒ Ensure a diverse range of engagement and participation and opportunities are in place to suit different needs As above ☐ Measure how well we involve community stakeholders in the planning, design and delivery of our services ☒ Provide regular feedback on how stakeholder engagement and participation is shaping and influencing service development and delivery Ongoing
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13 ☐ Provide support to enable stakeholder representatives to participate meaningfully and confidently at meetings ☐ Develop participation guidelines to ensure a common understanding and set of expectations for both stakeholders and partnership staff ☒ Support engagement planning and participation in localities, taking account of other engagement activity and local plans across the Community Planning Partnership Info through governance structures 7.6 INEQUALITIES & FAIRER SCOTLAND DUTY EQIA Completed & Fairer Scotland Impact Assessment Form Completed and attached to report: Yes No N/A EQIA added to website: Yes No N/A 8. BACKGROUND PAPERS None.
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14 9. APPENDICES Appendix 1 – Analogue to Digital EQIA CHIEF ACCOUNTABLE OFFICER (or Depute) Members seeking further information about any aspect of this report, please contact the following; Hugh Holt, HoltH@northlan.gov.uk John McGeough, McGeoughJ@northlan.gov.uk
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15 Direction from North Lanarkshire Integration Joint Board (IJB) 1 Reference Number 2024/0821-05 2 Report Title Community Alarm Service 3 Date direction issued by IJB 4 Date from which direction takes effect 5 Direction to: 6 Does this direction supersede, revise or revoke a previous direction – if yes, include reference number(s) 7 Functions covered by direction 8 Full text of direction 9 Budget allocated by Integration Joint Board to carry out direction 10 Performance Management / Governance arrangements 11 Date direction will be reviewed
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16 Appendix 1 Document Text Name of Policy / Budget Saving Analogue to Digital Transition Project Author Robert McClung Contact details McClungR@northlan.gov.uk Owner Diane Fraser FraserDi@northlan.gov.uk EqIA version number EqIA status Complete X Incomplete If Incomplete please say why - for instance pending further consultation / research
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17 Section 1. About the Policy 1.1 Name of the policy / strategy / function / procedure: Is this a: - A new policy /strategy / function / procedure / service Budget saving Review of policy /strategy / function / procedure Review of Service Other (please specify) Community Asset Transfer Is this is a key strategic decision subject to the Fairer Scotland Duty Yes No 1.2 Person Responsible for the policy etc. Name: Robert McClung Job Title and Service / Team: Senior Officer Analogue to Digital project Lead (Adult Services) 1.3 What is the scope of the assessment? Detail where appropriate Whole of the organisation Service specific Discipline specific Other
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18 1.4 What is the policy/ strategy/ function/ saving trying to achieve / do? Analogue to Digital Telephone lines in the UK are being upgraded to digital technology. The process of migrating to digital telephone lines has already started, and the rollout is scheduled to be completed by 2025. As of 2021 services can no longer sell analogue services such as BT and Virgin, and by and escalated process by 2023 no analogue tech nology can be sold also by any company. Analogue to Digital in Community Alarm Current telecare solutions in use in Scotland use analogue technology. This means that they send signals between the alarm device and Alarm Receiving Centre (ARC) by making a dialup phone call and sending a series of audible tones. Analogue signalling does not work reliably when sent over the digital phone lines that are being installed in user’s homes, grouped schemes, and ARCs Telecare is digital when signalling traffic is carried end-to-end (from a user’s alarm device to the ARC) in a digital format. This device is not connected to the user’s telephone line, instead it contains a SIM card that allows it to connect to the mobile telephone networks. This means that the Alarm Receving Centre, alarm devices and peripherals will now need to be digitally enabled to meet the future needs of the service users within our community. This project fits directly into the council’s ambition priority to - Improve the health and wellbeing of our communities. North Lanarkshire Health and Social Care partnership and North Lanarkshire Council is looking to develop a strategic business plan for the analogue to digital transition through the review and analysis of current service provision and their users. This project will look to have an in-depth look at understanding of current technology in place, current HSCNL digital workstreams and their impact on this project and collaboration, engagement of community alarm users, engagement of HSCNL staff in respect of technology and community alarm service and appraisal of alternative technology for future use within the partnership
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19 This project will look to provide our communities with the ability for self- management, proactive responses from services and for a holistic person- centered basis for a person’s wellbeing using technology. This project will have produced a strategic business plan for the analogue to digital transition along with all relevant risk assessments. Following the strategic business plan, this project will then focus on implementing the organizations transition from analogue to digital. This will come in the form of procuring a new alarm receiving center through a cloud hosted based system or hardware-based system, to replace our current analogue alarm receiving center. This will then allow for us to look at digitally enabled devices to replace our current analogue community alarms. 1.5 If this is a budget saving, how will the saving be achieved? This project will not focus on budget savings. Section 2. What do I know now? 2.1 Who are the stakeholders and beneficiaries? The stakeholders will be our residents within North Lanarkshire Council areas who are provided with a community alarm service or a telecare service. Other stakeholders will be employees who work for the community alarm service and Health and Social care who assess and prescribe telecare equipment. 2.2 What data, consultation, research and other evidence or information is available relevant to this assessment? (This is a desktop exercise) Digital Telecare National Briefing Document (2020) gives an overview of the work done by telephony providers around the transition of their analogue copper lines to new fibre digital lines. This was done without consultation of the public or any organisation. This document also outlines
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20 An estimated timeline with an in-depth breakdown of the timescales to complete key operational components of the transition. Estimated resources and costings for the transition. Information on the impact that the transition will have on service users. Potential benefits and opportunities of a digital telecare service. Risks to be considered. Recommendations that telecare service providers should follow to minimise disruption to their service users. Information on resources available from the Digital Telecare Programme which will support the transition journey. North Lanarkshire have also enlisted a third part organisation to carry out reviews of the community alarm service which details peoples experience of using this alarm system. 2.3 Considering the information in Section 1 and 2.1 and 2.2 2.3.1 If this policy is subject to the FSD what does it suggest about the impact or potential impact on socio-economic disadvantage? (please refer to FSD Interim Guidance) Low income People in receipt of a community alarm are now in the process of being charged for this. Due to the digital upgrade and the enhance cost of equipment and alarm receiving centre this will further affect cost of this service. Low wealth Material deprivation Area deprivation 2.3.2 Are any of the people communities listed below likely to be more affected by this policy than others? People who share one or more of the protected characteristics of the Equality Act 2010 Yes Details No Details Don’t Know Age (a particular age or range of ages) X 78.1% of community alarm users are aged 70 years and over.
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21 Disabled people and people with long term health conditions X Most users of the community alarm service fall within this characteristic. We are unable to pull statistics for this. Women and men, girls and boys X People defined by their race, colour and nationality, ethnic or national origins. X Married people and civil partners X Pregnant women and new mothers (including breastfeeding women) X Lesbian, gay and bisexual people X People transitioning from one gender to another X People of different religions or beliefs or non-beliefs X Other groups Children and families X Homeless people X Looked after and accommodated people X Care leavers X Carers – paid / unpaid, family members X Carers will be affected due their possible requirement to use the community alarm systems to
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22 summon support fore the person they are providing the care Asylum seekers X Employees – full and part time. Including SES, MAs etc. X Staff who work within the service will be affected by changes to their operating systems and procedures. Others 2.4 Do you have evidence or reason to believe that this policy will, or may potentially affect the Council’s duty to: (Please tick all that apply). Yes No Don’t Know 1. Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and any other conduct prohibited by the Equality Act 2010? X 2.Advance equality of opportunity between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and those who do not X 3. Foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not? X 4. Protect and promote human rights? X 5. Reduce socio-economic disadvantage X Please provide details.
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23 Section 3. What else do I need to know /find out? 3.1 Further consultation – Please use the table directly below to say who you will consult with (tick Yes or No). Consider those groups from section 2.3 where you ticked yes or don’t know. Once consultation has taken place provide the details below. People and communities Yes No Describe what you did, with whom and when. Please provide a brief summary of the responses gained and links to relevant documents, as well as any actions Age (a particular age or range of ages) X Information relating to the digital transition will be passed to all relevant users of the community alarm service. This will be done in conjunction with our communications team to ensure that the most up to date information is sent and is accessible for all. Disabled people and people with long term health conditions X Information relating to the digital transition will be passed to all relevant users of the community alarm service. This will be done in conjunction with our communications team to ensure that the most up to date information is sent and is accessible for all. Women and men, girls and boys X People defined by their race, colour and nationality, ethnic or national origins. X Married people and civil partners X Pregnant women and new mothers and breastfeeding women. X Lesbian, gay and bisexual people X People transitioning from one gender to another X
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24 People of different religions or beliefs or non-beliefs X Other groups X Children and families X Homeless people X Looked after and accommodated people X Care leavers X Carers – paid / unpaid, family members X Information relating to the digital transition will be passed to all relevant users of the community alarm service. This will be done in conjunction with our communications team to ensure that the most up to date information is sent and is accessible for all. Asylum Seekers X Trade Unions X Employee Equality Forum X Others X 3.2 What additional research or data is required? At this time all research and data has been provided by the Digital Office for Scotland as this is a nationwide activity being completed by external telephony providers which will affect all areas.
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25 3.3 What does the additional research and data tell you about potential or known effects? N/A Section 4. Assessing the impact and strengthening the policy Considering all the evidence you now have from section 1-3, how will the policy affect different people and communities in relation to equality, socio-economic disadvantage and human rights? 4.1 How does/will the policy and resulting activity affect those with the characteristics listed below (including employees)? Please use the table below to provide details. Detail any Positive impact Detail any adverse impact If adverse how can we mitigate this? Where no mitigating action is planned please say why not Age (a particular age or range of ages) The introduction of digital telecare will allow for better call function (clarity/speed/reliability/quality. This will also allow for further technology which could enhance care and independence to be introduced. Due to the digital upgrade and the enhance cost of equipment and alarm receiving centre this will further affect cost of this service. Ensure that benefits have been maximised. Disabled people and people with long term health conditions The introduction of digital telecare will allow for better call function (clarity/speed/reliability/quality. Due to the digital upgrade and the Ensure that benefits have been maximised.
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26 This will also allow for further technology which could enhance care and independence to be introduced. enhance cost of equipment and alarm receiving centre this will further affect cost of this service. Women and men, girls and boys People defined by their race, colour and nationality, ethnic or national origins. Married people and civil partners Pregnant women and new mothers (including breastfeeding women) Lesbian, gay and bisexual people People transitioning from one gender to another People of different religions or beliefs or non- beliefs
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27 Other groups Children and families Homeless people Looked after and accommodated people Care leavers Carers – paid / unpaid, family members The introduction of digital telecare will allow for better call function (clarity/speed/reliability/quality. This will also allow for further technology which could enhance care and independence to be introduced. Due to the digital upgrade and the enhance cost of equipment and alarm receiving centre this will further affect cost of this service. Support is provide to ensure the person they care with has their benefits maximised to allow them to keep this service. Asylum Seekers Employees – full and part time. Including SES, MAs etc. The introduction to the digital telecare should provide a better working platform for staff with better call reliability and handling. This should reflect in their ability to take and field calls more efficiently A new way of working may need to be introduced which will require further training and support for staff to follow Support will be provided throughout the project. Others
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28 4.2 What measures could be taken to strengthen the policy / strategy to help advance equality of opportunity, foster good relations, promote human rights and reduce socio-economic disadvantage. North Lanarkshire could look to build on its use of community alarm service reviews to carry out a more holistic in-depth review of a person’s needs. This would allow the service to maintain and enhance its relationship with the users of the alarm service. 4.3 Considering questions 4.1 and 4.2 what actions / measures will be put in place before introducing this policy please provide details. Action Timescales Responsible Officer Review details (include timescales) Section 5. Monitoring, evaluating and reviewing 5.1. How will you monitor the impact and effectiveness of the new policy? This will be reviewed at the beginning of the transition and throughout the implementation of the digital equipment. The full project will be subject to a review as in line with North Lanarkshire’s project management policy. Section 6. Making a decision and sign-off Recommendation Tick Comment (where applicable, please give more information e.g. where to pilot, what modifications, etc.) Timescales Introduce the policy New policy and procedures will be put in place once digital transformation of the service is complete 12 Months
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29 Adjust the policy then introduce Introduce the policy with justification regarding potential adverse impact Stop and withdraw the policy Name of Policy Head of Service /Senior Manager sign-off: Name Job title and division/ team Date Signature For further information please contact: Name: Hugh Holt Job title: Senior Officer Service: Adult Services Contact details: Holth@northlan.gov.uk