Nicola Boerm-Hammond, Call Centre Manager – Access SPA and Telecare Service in the Adult Social Care Team at Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council, explains how Tunstall Response has ensured that Dudley’s community alarm service has been able to continue providing vital support during the pandemic.
Jan 19, 2021
Dudley Council’s Telecare Service supports over 8,000 people in the borough who may need a little extra support. This includes older people, people living alone, people at risk of falls, people with learning disabilities and carers.
Like many services, our Telecare Service had to rapidly change its working practices as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and we have also had to manage the challenges of staff isolating and social distancing. At the same time, we recognise that our service is more important than ever to the people we support and those who care about them during the crisis.
Unfortunately, despite abiding by the guidance and the best efforts of staff, several members of the team received positive COVID-19 test results, and the Council’s Environmental Health department suggested that the service should initiate a circuit breaker. This meant closing down the monitoring centre completely for at least two weeks.
We approached Tunstall Response to explore our options for continuing to deliver our vital services during this time. They were able to accommodate hosting the service on our behalf within a matter of days, and due to hard work and commitment on both sides, the transition was seamless for our customers. We feel reassured that Tunstall Response’s operators are highly trained, specialist professionals, able to deliver the quality of service our customers have come to expect, and that all GDPR requirements are fully adhered to.
After three weeks, we were able to reopen the centre, and once again the transition went smoothly. We’re happy to be back, delivering our service, and now have the reassurance that, should we need to, we have a robust back up for delivering our service.
