Agenda item

Tony Sanderson, Assistive Technology Project Manager presented the submitted report which provided a summary of the progress made by Neighbourhoods and Adult Services relating to Assistive Technology during 2008/2009.

Rotherham received a total of £441,941 Preventative Technology Grant (PTG) from the Department of Health under section31 of the Local Government Act 2003.  It was made up of £165,327 for 2006-07 and £276,621 for 2007-08.  Through the grant it was expected that councils would invest in telecare to help support individuals in the community.  This aimed to help an additional 160,000 older people nationally to live at home with safety and security and to reduce the number of avoidable admissions to residential/nursing care and hospital.  A specific project management resource was recruited on a short term secondment in August 2008 to deliver the assistive technology project using PTG funding.  The Project Manager’s key responsibilities included testing new assistive technology products and utilising the PTG effectively.  After consultation with the NAS Directorate Management Team (DMT) key areas of research and expenditure were identified and these were:

Smart Flat:  A property at Grafton House had been supplied with a suite of assistive technology devices.  Service users using the devices and evaluate which pieces of technology meet their specific needs.  The facility was currently at an embryonic stage, but if results proved positive further smart flats could be developed across the length and breadth of Rotherham.

3^rd Sector Trial:  DMT approved £130,000 expenditure for assistive technology for the 3^rd Sector in order to identify 500 new clients.  The current voluntary sector free six week trial had been challenging to find suitable clientele.  Additional promotional activity for the pilot was being undertaken via mail drop, press advertisement and internet and intranet to raise customer awareness of the trial.  Voluntary Action Rotherham were also raising awareness through the 3^rd sector contacts.  The trial would continue on a rolling basis until 500 clients had been identified and this would be followed by a secondary stage of evaluation.

Temperature Extreme: A temperature extreme monitor trail had been undertaken during December 2008/January 2009.  Individual disclaimers were signed by the trial group to indicate the action Rothercare had to take in the event of the temperature extreme sensor device being activated.  During the trial period no calls had been received by Rothercare.  However this technology opened the gateway for more specific trials to be undertaken with stakeholders such as Rotherham NHS.  These specific trials could include all clients that had been admitted to hospital with hypothermia related conditions.

Bogus Callers Alarms: During November 2008, 190 bogus caller alarms were deployed.  It was identified at an early stage that the existing Rothercare technology was not compatible with the bogus caller alarms due to the age of the software.  New base boxes had to be procured at an additional cost of £147.20.  In line with the project plan these pieces of technology had now been evaluated through a questionnaire and the results had proved very positive and indicated that the customer’s perception of bogus caller alarms were positive.  These positive results could lead the way for a wider trial of this technology.  Linkages with other stakeholders such as the Police could target crime hot spots and improve the customer’s perception of crime.

Safeguarding Adults:  It was proposed that Rothercare was given free of charge, for a period of up to six weeks to service users identified by the Safeguarding Adults team.  Thirty Minuet watches (a pendant built in to a watch) would be tested on this particular client group.  This would offer the service user the ability to be discreet when pressing the alarm button.  An additional bogus caller alarm would if necessary also be issued to ensure that this client group had additional support.  After the maximum six week free trial period, Rothercare would either be removed from the customer or the customer could keep the equipment, but be charged as normal.

Just Checking:  ‘Just Checking’ monitors customer’s lifestyle through discreet sensors whilst the service user remained in their own home.  This technology was primarily targeted at service users with dementia.  It had been widely tested in Staffordshire and had proved cost effective and kept customers out of nursing and residential care.  DMT approved the purchase of 40 of these devices and an initial order of 4 devices had been procured to embed this technology with social workers.  The internet was required so that Social Workers could evaluate each Just Checking case and now that issues around internet access had been resolved the service would be formally re-launched.

Rothercares ICT Platform:  Rothercare was moving premises from Greencroft to Bakersfield Court on the 17^th March 2009 with a go live date of the 18^th March 2009.  As it was a 24/7 service the move posed an ideal opportunity to upgrade the ageing Tunstall PNC4 ICT platform without disrupting the service.  Two ICT platforms were considered which were Tunstall PNC5 and Jontek Answer Link 3g.  It was felt that Answer Link 3g better met the future needs of NAS.

Whilst undertaking this project, key areas of future development had been identified, and this included the need for an overarching assistive technology strategy.  Intertwined with this was a requirement fro a robust business plan which highlighted commissioning routes and a clear charging policy.  The charging policy should address and reflect upon Rothercares historical issues such as how to deal with debtors, vexatious customers and equipment installation/removal fees.  Consideration would be given to a tiered approach to assistive technology charging. 

Further consideration was required as Rothercare was upgrading its ICT Platform from Tunstall PNC4 to Jontek Answer Link 3g.  Alternative suppliers such as Chubb, Vivatec and Possum should be tested with a long term view of future contracts.  This must be tempered with the fact that Tunstall had been our key supplier for nearly ten years.  By undertaking a large scale pilot of these alternative suppliers it would allow Rotherham time to evaluate their effectiveness before a possible tendering exercise was required for a large scale base unit renewal/upgrade in 2010.

A discussion ensued and it was agreed that a presentation in relation to Assistive Technology should be given to all elected members of the Council.

Resolved:- (1) That the progress made be noted

(2) That a Seminar be arranged in order for all elected members of the Council to attend.