Issue with personal alarms for adult social care users

Due to an external technical issue affecting Telecare, personal alarms for adult social care users are not currently working. This means that if an alarm is activated/pressed, the alert will not come through to the Telecare team for a response.

We are working closely with the provider to get this up and running as quickly as possible, and to check in on our most vulnerable residents with welfare calls.

If your family member has a personal alarm, please check in with them more regularly where possible. We would advise any service users who have a mobile phone to keep it on them in case they need to contact emergency services.

If you or someone you know needs emergency help, please call emergency services on 101 or 999.

If you have any questions or need non-emergency help, please call Telecare on 0207 364 4827 or Tower Hamlets Connects on 0300 303 6070.

We will update this page as the situation evolves.

Thursday 23 Feb

The technical issue is ongoing. We are working with our partners and service providers to contact our most vulnerable residents who use personal alarms, and those who do not have an additional care package in place. Please continue to check in more regularly with your family members if they use a personal alarm.

Friday 24 Feb

We are still experiencing technical issues with personal alarms and have made the decision to replace or reset all affected equipment. 

Anyone with a personal alarm will be contacted over the weekend and into next week to arrange a visit. Any council officer that is visiting will have identification on them.

Alternatively, if you already receive care from a care provider, they may ask to check or replace your personal alarm during your visit. 

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause. If you have any questions about personal alarms, call Telecare on 0207 364 4827.

Monday 27 Feb

We are continuing to contact anyone who has a personal alarm to arrange a visit, where a council officer will either reset your current personal alarm or replace it with a different alarm.

We are also making additional welfare checks over the phone while the issue continues.

Wednesday 1 March

We are still experiencing technical issues with adult personal alarms. We understand this is a concern and would like to reassure you that the council and its partners are working hard to resolve the issue.

We are contacting everyone to update their devices or to provide new ones, and are carrying out welfare checks by phone. Please continue to check in on your friends, neighbours or relatives who use personal alarms more regularly.

If you have any questions about personal alarms, call Telecare on 0207 364 4827 or Tower Hamlets Connects on 0300 303 6070..

Friday 3 March

We are continuing to contact everyone over the phone to carry out welfare checks and book in a visit to update or replace devices. Anyone who has a personal alarm and has not yet heard from us will be contacted as soon as possible. 

If you have any questions, please call Telecare on 0207 364 4827 or Tower Hamlets Connects on 0300 303 6070.

Tuesday 7 March 

The main phonelines used by Telecare have been reconnected, so if a personal alarm is pressed, an alert should go to the team for a response.

To make sure that all devices are working as they should be, we are asking everyone with an alarm to please activate it as soon as possible.

Please note, it may take longer than usual for alarms to connect to Telecare due to the large volume of devices being tested.

If you have activated your alarm and have not had a response after five minutes, please activate the alarm again. If you still aren’t connected, please call Telecare on 0207 364 4827.

Wednesday 8 March

We are still asking anyone with a personal alarm to please test it as soon as possible.

Friday 10 March

We are continuing to test personal alarms to make sure they are working as they should be.

There are still a small number of people who we have not yet been able to contact. We are continuing to reach out over the phone and are sending out council officers to visit in person. Any council officer visiting will have identification on them.

Thursday 16 March

The Telecare service in Adult Social Care now has all telephone lines functional again and all calls are being received.

We are continuing to contact all service users to test their alarms and ensure they are working as they should be. Any devices found not to be working are being checked or replaced in person by our officers.

If you or a faily member has any questions, please contact Telecare on 0207 364 4827.

If you or your family member have a personal alarm and have not been contacted by the council to test your alarm, please test your alarm at your earliest convenience. If it is not working, call Telecare on 0207 364 4827.