Frequently asked questions

What is telecare?

Telecare is a service that helps you stay safe in your own home. By wearing a lifeline alarm, you can immediately press an alarm button and summon help in an emergency. The alarm can be around the neck or on a wrist strap, or you can have pull cords within easy reach in your home, for example, in the bathroom.

How does it work?

The lifeline alarm is linked to a control centre through your telephone where trained operators will answer your call straight away and summon help. As well as the lifeline alarm, special sensors can be fitted in your home to alert staff in the control centre that you might be in danger.

For example, bed and chair sensors will set off an alarm if you haven’t returned to your bed or chair after a set time. Other sensors can act as reminders. For example, flood detectors will trigger an alarm if taps are left on and medicine dispensers will alert you if you have forgotten to take your medicine on time.

What are the benefits of telecare?

Telecare helps you stay safe in your own home for as long as possible and gives you and your family peace of mind. From the moment you call, we know who you are, where you live and who to contact in an emergency. This could be a relative, friend or neighbour.

Who responds to the emergency call?

When you press your lifeline alarm the control centre will always try and call you first to see if you are all right and whether there is an emergency. Lifeline and telecare users need to have three people - family, friends or neighbours - who can be called if the alarm goes off. If the control centre can’t get hold of anyone, they will call the emergency services.

What if I can’t get to the door in an emergency?

We recommend that all our customers have a key safe box installed. This is a small box with a keypad that stores keys safely. To unlock the box the correct code must be typed into the keypad.

The boxes can be hidden discreetly near the door entrance. Ridgeway Care & Repair’s Handihelp service can provide these at a small one-off charge. In an emergency, the control centre can let the ambulance service have the key code so they can let themselves into your home to help you.