Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
Assessments on the way
Community alarm service changes
Needs assessments for new applicants to North Lanarkshire’s community alarm service are to be introduced from June.
Current users will not be affected by the change, with all retaining their existing provision without assessment “for as long as they wish”.
Alarms are currently provided automatically on request to anyone aged over 75 and living alone, accounting for more than two-thirds of the 10,000 users; as well as to younger people of all ages who have been assessed as needing the service.
The new criteria – approved last week by North Lanarkshire’s health and social care integrated joint board (IJB) – will see future applicants complete the needs assessment with a social care professional; after a consultation late last year saw 70 per cent of respondents support that option.
Members of the IJB approved a report noting: “It is the recommendation that the service move to the needs-based model for accessing the service.
“Embedding needs assessment as a route to access the service will allow it to build significantly enhanced knowledge of its user base, supporting more effective planning and crucially, enhancing response to individuals.
“Most users currently access the service without a formal assessment of their wider needs [which] limits the service’s knowledge of its users.
“A key benefit is the ability to target the service at those who have the potential to benefit most from this type of support and ensure alarms are not provided inappropriately.
“It will also provide an opportunity to signpost individuals to other appropriate advice and support, and enhance opportunities to involve families and carers in response arrangements.”
The report added: “It is not considered either practical or desirable to apply the new approach retrospectively; therefore people over 75 who have currently accessed service without assessment will retain their alarm and service as long as they wish this.”
North Lanarkshire’s 24/ 7/ 365 community alarm service provides support in urgent situations such as falls, illness or personal care needs.
User numbers reduced “significantly” when a controversial £5 weekly charge for the service was introduced for eight months from August 2016; but when the fee was subsequently abolished last April, numbers rose by 25 per cent between then and this January – which also reflects “growth in the referral rate” from 150 per month last year to 200 now.
The service received around 37,500 calls per month during the past year and is seeing increasing demand, with home support workers undertaking an additional 230 home visits per month during last year. Officials are also piloting a scheme to collect “detailed, accurate personal information” for all existing service users; the programme started out in Airdrie last June, with more than 300 of the information visits having taken place to date.
A spokesperson for the IJB said: “A robust consultation found that the preferred model for community alarms is based on need.
“While no current user of the service will be affected, the board approved that future deployment of alarms will be subject to a professional assessment of the needs of the user.
“This ensures a sustainable model for the service and means those who require an alarm will receive one.”