West Dunbartonshire Health and Social Care Partnership Awarded Bronze Digital Telecare Implementation Award.
We are delighted to confirm that West Dunbartonshire Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) 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, a Telecare Service Provider must have implemented a fully operational digital alarm receiving centre solution. 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.
West Dunbartonshire HSCP supports approximately 1,800 clients with telecare equipment. Their small community alarm team manages referrals, installations, and responds to callouts, with assistance from Sheltered Housing supervisors and Homecare staff. Their call handling service is provided by East Dunbartonshire Council.
West Dunbartonshire HSCP has made significant progress in transitioning to a digital Telecare system. By taking advantage of the resources provided by the Digital Telecare Programme, they reviewed their services and equipment and in collaboration with East Dunbartonshire Council, they successfully adopted the Shared ARC Platform, enhancing service delivery and operational efficiency. Then with support from Scotland Excel, the Digital Office, and their procurement team, they conducted a rigorous procurement process for digital alarms, ultimately selecting Chiptech as their preferred supplier.
West Dunbartonshire HSCP had several dispersed GSM alarm units still in use. With the January 2025 deadline approaching, they needed to initiate an exchange program promptly. Following council approval in October 2024, West Dunbartonshire received the first delivery of alarms in November 2024.
Testing between East Dunbartonshire’s ARC and the demo Chiptech digital alarms has already been completed, enabling West Dunbartonshire to commence basic box and button equipment exchanges immediately. To date, the team has installed over 550 Chiptech Seven digital alarms and is currently testing various Chiptech peripherals through to the ARC.
Looking to the future, West Dunbartonshire HSCP is exploring how they can automate administrative tasks to release resource for their team to focus on adopting a proactive service delivery approach.
Beth Culshaw, Chief Officer, West Dunbartonshire HSCP, said: “I want to extend my heartfelt gratitude to everyone involved in achieving this remarkable award. It's wonderful to see your fantastic efforts being recognised.
Our telecare service is always under pressure, especially at this time of year. Therefore, commencing the Analogue to Digital transition and achieving this award now is a tremendous credit to the Telecare team and all who have supported this project.
The new digital telecare equipment will provide invaluable support to the 1,800 vulnerable West Dunbartonshire service users who rely on the telecare equipment. The new digital Chiptech equipment means that service users will no longer need to depend on their phone lines to connect their alarms to the alarm receiving centre.
Thank you once again for your dedication and hard work. Your contributions have made a significant impact on the lives of our service users.”
We extend our wholehearted congratulations to West Dunbartonshire HSCP and look forward to continuing to work with them as they progress towards the Silver Digital Telecare Implementation Award.
