feature: Help all day every day
28 May 2008
Help for older, vulnerable and disabled people is just a phone call away with Haringey Council's telecare service.
The Safe and Sound community alarm scheme is based at a new control room in Wood Green which is the nerve centre of the council’s telecare service.
The control room has just been refurbished and upgraded to provide an even better service to more residents.
It’s an immediate 24-hour emergency service operating every day of the year. It takes 6,000 calls a week and currently serves more than 4,500 clients.
You can apply to use the service if you are alone or vulnerable, are elderly, disabled, chronically ill or at risk from falls, and if you are caring for someone or experiencing domestic violence or any kind of harassment.
It can help for example if you’ve had a fall at home and can’t get up. Press a button attached to a pendant or wristband, and a signal is sent via your phone to the control room.
An emergency response officer can then identify you, speak to you and decide how to help, whether to send a member of the team round or call an ambulance.
The team keep keys to clients’ homes so that they can get into the house themselves or let the emergency services in.
The council has liaised with Haringey Teaching Primary Care Trust to extend the system to provide medical back-up. It can be used to sound an alarm to remind the client when medication should be taken as well as recording and logging health statistics such as blood pressure.
Cllr Bob Harris, cabinet member for adult social care, said:
“One of the key aims is to help people live an independent life in their own homes. This system is an integral part of meeting that objective.”
“It gives people confidence that they are safe and well at home - as well as providing around the clock help and support.”
Team leader Paulette Blake added:
“We’ve had a new system installed at the centre which means we can deal with calls and alarms more quickly and prioritise how they are dealt with.”
More details about the scheme are at: www.haringey.gov.uk/safe_sound_alarm
You can call the team on 020 8489 2365 or you can write to them at:
Community Alarm Service
Woodside House
294 High Road
Wood Green
London
N22 8YX
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