Charity boss slams buzzer alert system for elderly
A CHARITY boss has condemned plans to make pensioners in sheltered housing push a buzzer to let carers know they are still alive.
One of Scotland’s largest housing associations hopes to introduce the OkEachDay button into its 700 sheltered homes.
If residents fail to push the button every 24 hours, they are phoned by staff and a relative is contacted if they fail to respond to that call.
The Alertacall alarm system is part of cost-cutting measures and is expected to replace daily visits by wardens, who will be moved to three delivery hubs, according to Glasgow Housing Association (GHA).
Age Scotland’s charity director Keith Robson yesterday warned that the ‘telecare’ measures would add a ‘burden to the public purse’ and reduce the quality of life for many.
He said: ‘This is a concerning and potentially short-sighted development. Wardens can be an early warning system. They can spot changes in behaviour.
‘Telecare can keep people safe but this should not be a substitute for human contact and a friendly face.’
Mr Robson added: ‘In the long run, this may add to the burden on the public purse if people are being driven into formal care before this may be necessary.’
The planned changes to services – set out in a paper entitled Reshaping Sheltered Services – follow the abolition of Glasgow City Council’s sheltered housing model. Until 2013, the council had a £5million budget for sheltered housing but by last year this had been slashed to £2million and has now been cut to zero.
Reshaping Sheltered Services is at the centre of a public consultation due to finish on January 21 and be ready for implementation on April 1.
Sheltered housing in the city is monitored by the Glasgow City Health and Social Care Partnership, a venture between the council and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.
A spokesman for GHA said: ‘We are consulting older tenants about how we can continue to provide services after the funding ends.’
The call system came under scrutiny in England after the body of a pensioner lay undiscovered in 2014 despite an OkEachDay alert.
Press reports said Michael Maxwell confirmed he was ‘OK’ at his home in Stroud, Gloucestershire, on Sunday, May 4, before dying of natural causes later that day. The button should have alerted Stroud District Council (SDC) when Mr Maxwell did not press it on the Monday. His body was found the next day.
SDC said that when Mr Maxwell’s call was not received, the OKEachDay alarm was triggered and the alert made to the duty officer, who did not receive it as she was off sick. Call forwarding now takes place.
‘Short-sighted development’