Government unveils plan to prevent risks to telecare users from digital switchover

The government has launched an action plan to safeguard telecare users from the switching off of the UK’s analogue phone network.

Its replacement by a fully digital network will mean that existing services connected to the copper-based system, including many telecare devices, will need to be switched over by January 2027.

The switchover was initiated by the telecommunications industry, independently of government, with companies migrating customers to a digital service against an initial deadline of the end of 2025.

However, in December 2023, the then government said there had been a number of “serious incidents” in which telecare users’ devices had failed following migration, putting them at significant risk.

‘Telecare users must be protected’

“There is a risk that the process of migrating telecare users to digital landlines will disrupt their telecare services,” said minister for care Stephen Kinnock, in a statement launching the telecare action plan.

Stephen Kinnock (photo: Richard Townshend Photography)

“Telecare users must be protected during the digital phone switchover and every effort must be taken to avoid these risks.”

The telecare national action plan, which is targeted at councils, telecare providers, telecoms companies and housing providers, has four objectives:

1. That no telecare user will be migrated to digital landline services without the communication provider, the user or the telecare service provider confirming that the user has a compatible and functioning telecare solution in place.
2. That use of analogue telecare devices is phased out to ensure that only digital devices are being used by a deadline that the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) will set following talks with stakeholders.
3. That telecare users, their support networks and their service providers should understand what actions they need to take to ensure a safe migration to digital phone lines.
4. That stakeholders identified within the plan collaborate to safeguard telecare users through the digital phone switchover.

Councils sharing data with telecoms sector

The DHSC and Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), which are jointly responsible for the action plan, said a key priority under objective 1 was that councils and telecare providers shared data about service users with telecoms providers, so they could put additional safeguards in place for them.

The Local Government Association (LGA) and London Office of Technology and Innovation (LOTI) have drawn up a data sharing template to streamline the process of councils and telecoms providers reaching agreements.

This stated that the lawful basis for councils sharing the data was “substantial public interest”, based on it being in the best interests of people with care and support needs using social care for them to do so.

The DSIT and DHSC said they would engage with local authorities who had not signed data sharing agreements to understand the barriers to doing so.

Continued use of analogue devices

The departments said objective 2 required action to stop the manufacture, sales and purchase of new analogue telecare devices. Ministers wrote to telecare suppliers in September 2024, requesting that they do not sell analogue-only devices, while the departments are also working with consumer groups to highlight the risk of people purchasing such equipment.

However, they added that, while their long-term ambitions were for telecare users to have fully digital devices that were resilient to power cuts, interim solutions that enabled the use of analogue devices on digital phone lines were permissible in the medium-term, so long as there was adequate risk assessment, testing and ongoing monitoring.

The action plan said testing had shown that the reliability of such devices was dependent on the model, the telephone line type and provider and equipment used by the alarm receiving centre, meaning telecare providers needed to “ensure the reliability of the specific combination of equipment and services they use”.

Raising awareness among telecare users

It added that a national awareness raising campaign on the switchover, to be launched by the telecoms industry in early 2025, would be “tailored to the unique characteristics of telecare users and their support networks”.

The action plan also highlighted the risks of criminals exploiting the switchover to target people with scams, by tricking them into sharing personal information.

It pointed to LGA guidance on the issue, which advised councils to ensure that frontline staff were aware of the switchover and reported potential scams to trading standards while also raising them as safeguarding concerns.

The LGA guidance also urged co-ordination between children’s and adults’ social services teams and trading standards to identify which residents may be vulnerable to scams and to proactively safeguard them, for example, through setting up call blocking services.