Welcome to our newsletter, where we provide you with the latest from Digital Telecare for Scottish Government. In this edition, we bring you a recap of the events within the Digital Telecare Programme over the past month, along with insights of upcoming activities.
If you have any queries regarding any of the content within this newsletter, please get in touch.
Less Than 250-days Until the End of the Digital Telephone Migration.
Our Digital Telecare Programme is here to support all Scottish Local Authorities, Health and Social Care Partnerships, and Housing Associations in preparing for this transformation.
Whilst BT has extended their migration deadline to 2027, other telecom companies are unchanged and we remain committed to counting down to the 2025 deadline to ensure all Scottish Telecare Service Providers are ready well in advance.
Transitioning to digital services before the 2025 deadline is crucial to avoid any interruptions. Our dedicated Digital Telecare team is armed with the resources and expertise to help you on your journey to digital.
East Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership Achieve Platinum Implementation Award.
East Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) has been awarded the Platinum Digital Telecare Implementation Award in recognition of the recent completion of their analogue to digital telecare transition project.
Since receiving their Bronze Digital Telecare Implementation Award in January 2023, the A2D team has concentrated on the procurement and deployment of new digital-ready Community Alarm units, thereby reinforcing East Ayrshire Council’s position as the transition progresses.
Coming Soon: Telecare Information Framework (TIF) Document.
As telecare services shift from analogue to digital systems, the quality, accuracy, and accessibility of data becomes increasingly critical.
Launched in July 2023, the Telecare Information Framework (previously known as the Scottish Telecare Minimum Dataset) features a core set of defined fields. These fields are designed to capture crucial information, illustrating the use and impact of telecare service provision across Scotland.
To showcase the advantages of adopting the TIF and emphasise the significance of data standardisation across the sector, we have created a comprehensive TIF Information Document.
Stay tuned! We will be publishing the TIF Information Document soon.
Housing Digital Telecare Implementation Award Scheme.
The Digital Telecare Implementation Award Scheme for Housing was launched last year to recognise the significant effort involved in transitioning from analogue to digital. The scheme acknowledges the dedication and hard work of telecare providers and their teams, celebrating key milestone successes in the digital transitioning journey.
Why apply?
The award scheme offers five distinct awards, each representing critical milestones for housings digital journey:
Governance: Preparing an asset register, reviewing contracts, and engaging with in-house teams to ensure a smooth transition.
Strategy/Planning: Developing a comprehensive housing strategy, assessing needs, and conducting an options appraisal.
Test/Implement: Selecting and testing digital solutions, deploying 25% of those in digital or digitally ready state as well as devising and implementing a roll-out plan.
Operational: Deploying 50% of digital or digitally ready solutions and establishing business-as-usual processes.
Digitally Migrated: Achieving 100% digital telecare, connected to a digital ARC, and completing a post-project review.
Benefits of making an application:
Applying for the award scheme is straightforward and less onerous and we are here to support you every step of the way. The scheme not only celebrates your achievements but also provides recognition and validation for your efforts in preparing, reviewing and ensuring digital transitioning is completed for your organisations and before the analogue switch-off.
The Implementation Award Scheme Guidance can be found in the Digital Telecare Playbook below. Note: Please sign into the Digital Telecare Playbook before accessing the link.
If your housing association or local authority has met any of the above milestones, get in touch with Sharon Hannah, our Housing Project Manager, or send your completed checklist for feedback or review.
As digital telecare continues to expand, we are gaining deeper insights into the technical aspects of providing a digital service. This includes understanding the protocols used by digital alarms, how they connect to Alarm Receiving Centres (ARCs), and how they interconnect and route calls digitally.
There has been a recent rise in issues affecting telecare service providers (TSP) in Scotland. These issues have varied in scale and impact, with 12 incidents of varying severity recorded to date.
To address these challenges, a structured escalation plan has been developed and agreed upon with partners and stakeholders. This plan provides awareness of ongoing issues, impacted parties, and the severity of the issues.
We encourage TSPs to use this process to escalate issues to their senior management teams (SMT) and stakeholders. A template has been created for TSPs to customise according to their needs, and it is recommended that this forms part of their business continuity plan.
The Incident Escalation Template will be added to the Digital Telecare Playbook soon!
Our next Smart and Connected Places webinar will place the spotlight on the Glasgow City Region and their Smart and Connected Social Places programme, which is funded by the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology's (DSIT) 5G Innovation Region programme. You will hear about how the Region has successfully been using advanced wireless communications and the internet of things (IoT) to drive innovation in:
Social housing (connected sensors to monitor damp, mould, and heating in social homes)
Social care (smart speakers, to support care and wellbeing services for vulnerable people and improve digital inclusion)
Net zero homes (connected sensors to monitor the impact and benefit of net zero interventions).
The programme has delivered live deployments, business cases to scale solutions, and an open innovation competition that provided local SMEs and third sector organisations with funding and an opportunity to work with Councils and partners to develop innovative solutions. The success of the programme has recently been recognised by DSIT, who have now provided an additional £1.9m to expand the programme further.
.png?upscale=true&width=1120&upscale=true&name=Housing%20Implementation%20Award%20Badges%20(1).png)
