London Borough of Harrow

The Councils’ telecare services are focussed on providing a rapid and reliable response to a vulnerable person in need of help, two of the most common dangers being falls and fires.

If Councils could identify service users whose recent behaviour suggested that they were at an elevated risk of falling or having a fire in the near term, enormous savings and benefits could be available via focussed early intervention.

We want to explore whether recently launched digital sensors and communications tools might enable a more predictive digital telecare service to be made available by Councils, eg using reduction in daily walking to predict a possible fall or using increased smoke alarms frequency to predict a possible fire. Early intervention in both of these cases has enormous impact on both the individuals concerned and the costs of the necessary intervention.

We will:
– Explore and analyse our telecare alarm, response and incident data to understand the scale of potential benefits and the specific requirements of a digital solution.
– Research and test suitable digital sensors and systems to enable digital predictive telecare services to be delivered cost effectively.
– Identify the wider network of partners which would benefit from participation in a pilot scheme.