Our digital telecare briefing, published in autumn 2022, asked whether the telecare industry and housing providers were ready to meet the demands of a digital telecoms network. The conclusion was sobering: there was still a long way to go, posing considerable risks to the safety of vital telecare services.
One year on, we’re revisiting our digital telecare briefing to see what the situation looks like today – and what this means for housing providers yet to move to digital.
What’s happened since our digital telecare briefing was published?
Over the last twelve months, we’ve been pleased to see updated information from several independent sources. This underlines the significance of the digital switchover and the need to upgrade telecare services, with recommendations from the government, along with more practical details from the telecoms industry.
1. Digital telecare on the government’s agenda
The government’s policy paper, ‘Telecare stakeholder action plan: preparations for the analogue to digital switchover’, was published at the end of 2022. While perhaps somewhat behind the curve (particularly given Scottish Local Government published its National Briefing Document several years ago), it’s good to see digital telecare now firmly on the agenda throughout the UK.
The Telecare Stakeholder Action Plan highlights the time-critical nature of moving to digital telecare, providing an overview of the risks and opportunities of the digital switchover.
It also sets out an action plan focused on the individuals who rely on telecare services. Key areas include encouraging co-ordination between telecare stakeholders, such as manufacturers and service providers, as well as an emphasis on good communication and best practice.
2. More data on the risks of analogue over a digital network
Our digital telecare briefing highlighted how the impact of the digital switchover would be felt long before the publicised ‘end date’ of 2025.
Unfortunately, this is proving to be the case.
With the telecoms digital upgrade continuing at pace across the country, there’s been a rise in reports of first-time call failures and other issues. This has been noted by the Scottish Digital Office and in recent research conducted on behalf of the NHS Transformation Directorate, among others.
Alongside this, independent testing by TSA, the TEC industry body, has confirmed the dangers of operating analogue telecare devices across the digital network. Initial test results showed “a significant proportion (of analogue devices) that either function intermittently – or not at all”.
The data tallies with previous compatibility concerns and demonstrates the importance of a well-planned digital strategy to ensure telecare services are fit for purpose.
3. A clear message from the telecoms industry
With the digital rollout in progress, we’re getting more details from the telecoms industry about the upgrade process. The information confirms work is well underway and, crucially, that you may receive little notice your local area is being switched onto the digital network.
This addresses the common misconception that there is still plenty of time before the digital switchover takes effect (and also that telecoms providers will facilitate organisations’ migration to digital telecare).
In addition, Openreach has indicated its upgrade work is almost complete, meaning the timeline for the switchover rests with individual communication providers.
The company’s presentation at Appello’s ‘Analogue to Digital Telecare’ webinar in June 2023 stated: “Each affected customer will be contacted by their own communications provider and given a date for this change. This can be anytime between now and the end of 2025.” The advice is to audit your analogue devices and contact manufacturers to determine what needs to be done to ensure the continuity of your telecare services.
A significant number of housing providers yet to move to digital
Our digital telecare briefing assessed the uptake of digital telecare, showing approximately 1,000 out of a relevant 25,000 housing developments had been upgraded at that point – and a large proportion of housing providers not yet using digital systems.
While we have no precise update on these figures, we don’t believe they’ve changed significantly over the last twelve months. For example, we know many monitoring centres are still without digital capability, which is a major barrier for housing providers moving to digital.
As a result, the potential issues we flagged in our digital telecare briefing are relevant today. This includes:
– The number of housing providers needing to upgrade to digital telecare – and the scale of work required to achieve this
– An inevitable influx in demand as the impact of the digital switchover takes effect
– An increase in competition amongst housing providers seeking to procure digital telecare equipment
– A knock-on effect on the supply chain, plus possible industry capacity issues.
Barriers to moving to digital telecare
Our digital telecare briefing considered the reasons why housing providers may have been delaying the transition to digital.
Some of these are much less of an issue today. For example, there’s now a good level of awareness about the impact and urgency of the digital switchover, particularly at a senior level.
But the last twelve months have shown there’s some confusion about what a digital solution looks like. Research for the government’s Telecare Stakeholder Action Plan found: “Interviews with providers have highlighted differing opinions about the definition of a digital telecare service. This difference in definition is likely to cause some skewing of the results presented in this report, particularly around the degree of readiness and planning for alarm devices.”
This raises the question of whether organisations are fully prepared for the digital switchover. The confusion likely stems from differing messages regarding whether existing analogue devices are compatible with the digital network and whether analogue to digital converters are a suitable long-term option.
What does this mean for housing providers?
Back in the autumn of 2022, our digital telecare briefing concluded it was unlikely all housing providers would have implemented digital telecare by 2025, posing serious safety risks to those relying on telecare services.
What’s changed since then?
There’s now more information on the impact of the digital switchover – and clear signs of the impact this is already having on telecare services. But there’s also a large number of housing providers left to upgrade their systems and confusion regarding what it means to be ready for the digital switchover.
Our recommendations remain the same: it’s important to consider your options carefully and ensure your organisation doesn’t get caught at the back of what could be a long, slow queue for digital telecare.
The time to act is now. We’ve put together a number of resources to help you start your digital journey, including:
– Your Guide to the Digital Switchover – and how this could be impacting your telecare services
– Managing the Transition to Digital Telecare: How to Plan and Procure the Right Digital Solution
