East Dunbartonshire Council Awarded Bronze Digital Telecare Implementation Award

We are delighted to confirm that East Dunbartonshire Council has been awarded the Bronze Digital Telecare Implementation Award in recognition of the progress they have made on their analogue to digital telecare transition project.

To achieve Bronze status through Route 2, a Telecare Service Provider must have successfully deployed digital-ready alarm devices to at least 50% of all dispersed and group alarm users. This is the first major milestone in the transition to digital telecare and sets the foundations upon which the rest of the digital telecare transition will rest.

The Council adopted a ‘digital by default’ position on operations in April 2023 and since then has made great strides in providing digital telecare services in East Dunbartonshire. The project has been supported by the Digital Office and Shared ARC programme, and the first step involved a thorough assessment of the existing telecare infrastructure and the identification of what was needed for digital migration. 

Key activities included: 

• Inventory Audit: Cataloging all existing analogue telecare devices and systems. 
• Needs Analysis: Understanding the specific needs of residents using telecare services. 
• Technology Research: Evaluating available digital telecare technologies and selecting the most suitable options. 

The Council’s Emergency Response Centre and Technology Enabled Care team worked diligently to contact residents, book in routine home visits, and install the digital alarms. These were then tested onsite with the residents being fully briefed on their new device. 

The key challenge for East Dunbartonshire Council was ensuring that they had the resources and funding available to proceed with the project. A cost-effective and robust procurement process ensured this, and the project timeline was created to ensure no existing service was interrupted.

The project team knew that early and continuous engagement with affected residents, and maintaining open lines of communication throughout was critical for ensuring a smooth transition and ensured this at all times. Enabling the teams closely involved in the project to be flexible and adaptable to changing circumstances was also crucial in overcoming any challenges and in achieving project goals. 

Jamie Robertson, Executive Officer, Finance and Digital Services said: “We are committed to our Digital Strategy which will see more and more digital elements being added to our services and in how we work. This ensures we are not only as up-to-date with the latest technology as we can be but will allow quicker and more streamlined processes for our residents.  

“The Digital Telecare project includes colleagues from various teams working together to achieve its goals and I know they have all been working extremely hard to get to where we are today. I think it is important to highlight and celebrate successes and I would like to express my thanks to everyone who has supported this project and played a part in us receiving this Bronze Award.” 

East Dunbartonshire Council aims to have a 75% deployment by 2025 whilst further enhancing digital infrastructure. The Council are also planning for a complete modernisation of all sheltered housing complexes in tandem with the deployment of the Shared ARC Platform. 

Achieving this Award is a significant achievement and now that digital ready alarm devices have been deployed to at least 50% of all dispersed and group alarm users, East Dunbartonshire Council can move towards the first phase of testing with alarms and peripheral and aim to achieve the next Implementation Award, Silver.

We extend our wholehearted congratulations to East Dunbartonshire Council and look forward to continuing to work with them as they progress towards the Silver Digital Telecare Implementation Award.