Telecare and Digital Resilience
Argyll and Bute Council · 5 November 2025
Back to Mid Argyll, Kintyre and the Islands Area Community Planning Group — 5 November 2025 and its agenda
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Argyll and Bute Community Planning Partnership Mid Argyll, Kintyre and the Islands Area Community Planning Group 5th November 2025 Telecare and Digital Resilience Summary The HSCP has plans in place to support Telecare users in the event of a prolonged power outage. Digital Telecare devices are dependent upon power and mobile signal in order to operate. 1. Purpose This report is to inform members of the Community Planning Group about the plans that the Telecare Service within Argyll and Bute Health and Social Care Partnership have in place to support its clients during occasions of long power cuts. 2. Recommendations 2.1 That the contents of the report are noted 2.2 That members of the Community Planning Group have conversations with family, friends, clients, community members etc who are Telecare users or who may be vulnerable in the event of a power cut to discuss their own personal communication plan in advance of an event occurring. 3. Background At a previous Community Planning Group meeting, there was a presentation from BT’s Digital Voice Engagement Lead for the Scotland region, whose role is to support customers and stakeholders through the landline switch-over. The presentation provided information about battery packs being provided to Telecare users for use in the event of a power cut. The concerns raised were that the battery provides power for a limited amount of time, and recent weather-related power cuts have lasted for many days. After discussion the Group agreed that it would be useful to know what steps would be taken by the HSCP to ensure the safety of Telecare users during long power cuts. 4. Detail
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Across the United Kingdom, telephone lines are being upgraded from analogue to digital. BT are hoping to complete this switchover by the 31st January 2027. From a Telecare perspective, Argyll and Bute Health and Social Care Partnership are migrating all Telecare users from analogue devices to digital devices. 81% of all Telecare clients in Argyll and Bute now have a digital device. The key difference when it comes to power resilience is that digital devices are reliant on power in order to operate. Analogue devices had a battery back-up which meant that they could last for 24- 48hrs in a power cut as long as the phone line was still operational. As digital phone lines are wholly dependent upon power to function, this is a concern and is why Ofcom has mandated that communication providers such as BT provide a battery back-up solution to their clients which are deemed as vulnerable, such as telecare users. BT are providing a battery back-up solution free of charge to Telecare clients, however, it’s duration is limited eg. a few hours. This is not ideal in terms when power cuts can last for a few days but it is within the Ofcom recommendations. It is worth noting that the duration of the battery reduces when used. When Storm Eowyn occurred in January 2025, parts of Argyll and Bute saw power cuts that lasted several days. In addition, as mobile masts are dependent upon power in order to operate or have very short battery back-ups, the mobile signal also went down in some areas until power was restored, making any form of communication challenging. As digital telecare devices can now make calls over broadband in addition to the mobile signal, these devices will now be able to make calls when the mobile signal is down, as long as there is power to the device. This has been a recent development which was not available to us when Storm Eowyn occurred. The Telecare Service through its Critical Activity Recovery Plan (CARP) holds lists of all Telecare clients which can be accessed in an emergency situation. During Storm Eowyn, we worked with SSE initially to identify which areas of Argyll and Bute were affected by the power cuts. We then provided a list of clients within these
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affected areas to Carr Gomm, our responder service, to carry out welfare checks – with a priority focus being those who did not already receive home care. Carr Gomm attended, provided foil blankets and warm drinks where required and reported back to the HSCP if there were any concerns. In the more recent Storm Amy in October 2025, a decision was made by Senior Management to commence welfare checks before it was known whether the mobile masts had been affected. It transpires that some of the masts have now received back-up power to protect them in a power cut which meant that the impact was not as great on this occasion as before. For the Mid Argyll and Kintyre area, clients received a welfare check from Carr Gomm if they were not receiving home care and therefore scheduled to be visited. The affected clients were within the following areas. We are grateful to Carr Gomm for reacting so swiftly. • Tarbert • Islay - Port Ellen, Portnahaven • Cairnbaan • Achnamara • Colonsay • Gigha • Muasdale • Whitehouse • Ardfern • Ford • Inveraray • Furnace • Skipness • Tayvallich In Islay, where we do not have a responder service, the on-call Social Work manager was asked to ensure welfare checks were carried out for affected residents. Whilst the HSCP can and will organise welfare checks for instances where there are prolonged power cuts, we would always recommend that Telecare users have their own additional plans to keep safe and stay connected where possible. These could include:
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• Keeping a mobile phone nearby to call for help • Arrange in advance with family/friends to check on them if there is a power cut and there has been no communication • Purchasing power banks for mobile phones to prolong battery life • Purchasing power banks for digital phone lines which have a longer battery life than the ones provided by the communication operators 5. Conclusions The HSCP has plans in place to support Telecare users in the event of a prolonged power outage. These were enacted during Storm Eowyn in January 2025 and again with Storm Amy in October 2025 and were successful. 6. CPP Outcomes Does your report relate to any of the following: Outcome Tick as appropriate (√) Community Wellbeing Housing Transport Infrastructure For further information please contact: Samantha Somers, Technology Enabled Care Lead Samantha.somers@argyll-bute.gov.uk