Providing a caring link to the Wakefield community for 20 years

In a month when councils were warned that they will struggle to cope with the financial challenge posed by England’s ageing population, Wakefield and District Housing (WDH) has been celebrating the 20th anniversary of its very own telecare service that will alleviate financial pressures in the coming years.

The Audit Commission has highlighted examples of how telecare was being used to provide more efficient, cost effective electronic links between services and people living in their own homes.

WDH has been leading the way with their Care Link service, which opened for business on 19 February 1990. Two decades on the service continues to give people and their families help and reassurance 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

It has grown by embracing new cutting-edge technology to offer their help and expertise to anyone in the Wakefield district and it now supports over 15,500 people.

Care Link Manager Barbara Sowerby joined the service in 1994 as an operative and she says a lot has changed in that time.

“When Care Link first started it was operating in a small flat in Normanton – now we have a purpose-built Customer Contact Centre in Glasshoughton and employee levels have risen accordingly as we’ve offered our service out to anyone who feels they require it,” explains Barbara.

“Our client groups have changed during the 20 years. It’s not just the elderly that we support – it can be anyone across all age ranges. It’s for anyone who feels vulnerable – they can have alarms installed for extra security and piece of mind.”

One of the most significant changes Barbara and her employees have seen over the past two decades is the development in technology.

“The first technology was ‘hard-wired’ alarm systems – cords that people could pull, which would alert us and we could take the appropriate action,” says Barbara. “Since then we’ve developed more sophisticated alarms and sensors that can actually analyse a person’s day-to-day lifestyle.

“For example, we have motion sensors and bed sensors that tell us whether someone has got up in the night. If they don’t return to bed or there is no activity recorded we can take swift action to check on the welfare of that person.”

Care Link works with the Council, West Yorkshire Police, West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service and local health authorities to maintain the welfare of vulnerable people. It manages over 7,000 calls a week and has increased its outbound calls during the harsh winter weather.

Mick Walsh, Customer Contact Manager for WDH, said: “The technology is fantastic and it’s making a real difference to people’s lives. The most important thing about the service though is the quality of the people who answer. We have a tremendous team who share a great work ethic and are totally committed to helping people.

“People have different needs at different times, so we have to provide a service regardless of whether it’s Sunday night or Christmas Day. We work around them.”