Jan 12, 2026
Dr Thomas Dodd, Director of Strategic Engagement at Tunstall Healthcare, explores how housing providers across the UK are navigating the analogue to digital switchover, the practical lessons emerging from early adopters, and the wider service benefits digital telecare can unlock.
The analogue to digital switchover has been discussed for years. Too often, it has been discussed as someone else’s problem.
Telecoms providers are upgrading infrastructure. Government has published guidance. Manufacturers are refreshing devices.
Yet in housing, progress remains uneven.
With analogue lines due to be withdrawn across the UK by 2027, the sector is approaching a hard deadline. The question is no longer whether migration will happen. It is whether housing providers will lead it — or be forced to react to it.
Digital telecare works. IP-based systems are secure, resilient and widely deployed.
The real vulnerability lies elsewhere.
Across the sector, we still see:
That fragmentation creates risk.
When accountability is blurred, vulnerable residents are exposed.
There is a danger that the analogue switch-off becomes treated as a compliance milestone to survive rather than a service model to rethink.
If switchover is handled at the last minute, housing providers will face:
But if handled deliberately, digital migration can be a platform for service reform.
This is not simply about replacing analogue hubs. It is about modernising how housing supports independence.
Housing leaders should be asking three uncomfortable but necessary questions:
Where the answer is unclear, action is overdue.
Practical leadership means:
The sector cannot drift through the final stages of switchover.
There is a more strategic conversation to be had.
Digital telecare enables:
In short, it enables housing to move from reactive alarm response towards connected, preventative support models.
If switchover is approached purely as infrastructure replacement, that opportunity will be lost.
Telecoms operators, commissioners, manufacturers and telecare providers all carry responsibility in this transition.
But housing providers sit closest to residents.
That proximity brings accountability.
At Tunstall Healthcare, we are working with housing organisations across the UK to simplify digital migration, strengthen resilience planning and reduce disruption during upgrade programmes.
The providers who are progressing most confidently are those treating switchover as a strategic programme — not a technical afterthought.
The analogue to digital switchover is not a distant horizon issue. It is happening now.
The technology is ready. The infrastructure is shifting. The deadline is fixed.
The only remaining variable is sector leadership.
Housing cannot afford to drift.
Done properly, this transition is an opportunity to strengthen resident safety, modernise service models and build resilient foundations for the future of independent living.
Handled passively, it becomes a scramble.
The choice still sits with housing leaders — but not for much longer.
The transition to digital presents both opportunities and challenges to health, housing, and social care providers. Digital technology has the potential to transform service delivery, making it more person-centred, preventative, and efficient, enabling data and information to be collected, analysed and interpreted, improving services for citizens.
