Telecare is the service which provides support to the elderly and vulnerable to live independent lives by providing home telephone monitors and buzzers which enable them to call for help in the case of an emergency.
Users pay a flat charge for use of the various monitors, ranging from £2.99 to £7.99 a week.
Now a value-for-money review of the service proposes to remove the flat rate charges and to instead incorporate telecare as part of a client’s total adult care package.
A new council report reveals that the majority of telecare clients in South Tyneside have intense need for the service – and would need to move into residential care without it.
The report adds: “Our flat rate charge for telecare has proved to be a barrier to uptake, as significant numbers of clients refuse telecare when they learn they have to pay a charge.
“We have agreed that tele-care charges will be part of the financial assessment of a client’s total adult social care package.
“For new users, this will remove the barrier that the flat rate charges present to telecare uptake.”
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Quelle/Source: The Shields Gazette, 01.04.2011
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