This section of the site has a variety of reports, case studies and press releases on it - many of which you may find very interesting if you are considering getting the Alertacall service, or are researching safety issues for people who live alone at high risk or work for the press and are considering writing a story about Alertacall or related issues. Please select the document you are interested in from the list below:
James Batchelor, Managing Director of Alertacall Ltd, today challenged English councils with social services responsibility which will be in receipt of the Preventative Technology Grant (PTG) from April 2006 with the possibility that the grant will not be sufficient to cover all the costs associated with implementing their plans to introduce telecare into their mainstream services and, at the same time, to achieve the Department of Health's target number of people to benefit from the grant.
In a letter sent to directors of adult social care services he said:
"…the PTG gives you £500 to spend per person. (£80 million divided by 160,000 people.) £500 per person may sound generous, but it isn't. The cost of equipment may realistically be only one third to a quarter of what you need to allow when you take into account all your change management costs for staff training, service re-design, setting up response services, etc.
"A traditional, simple telecare equipment package costs £200 - £350. Therefore, you should be considering spending more like £850 per person. That is an extra £350 per person to find in addition to your PTG funding. If you are anticipating supporting people with 'high level' care needs, such as those with dementia, where the potential cost-benefit from reducing residential care is most attractive, you will need to spend considerably more."
James then went on to explain how his company, Alertacall, could help release PTG funding to spend on high level care people (such as those with dementia) who are often a priority for telecare plans. Alertacall can do this by providing low-cost telecare packages to councils which they could give to people to self-install. In doing so, councils could easily meet half their telecare population target and still have up to £960 available to spend on the rest. They would also be making a strong contribution to local prevention strategies - the very point of the Preventative Technology Grant. The scheme is therefore in tune with the aims of the recent Government White Paper 'Our Health, Our Care, Our Say'.
Alertacall's public website, where people can listen to endorsement of Alertacall by Claire Rayner and sign up for Alertacall's service, is: http://www.alertacall.com
The Alertacall Report 2005 was commissioned by Alertacall to help identify the very real concerns that people have in different parts of the country about the well being of older or disabled loved ones who live on their own. Additionally a large number of people over the age of 65 were asked about their own concerns for their own safety. A broad range of questions were asked relating to these issues and the results of this survey further highlight the growing concerns that many people have about the welfare and safety of loves ones.
The survey was conducted by 72 Point Ltd. 1,973 respondents took part in an on-line poll between September 2 - 16 2005.
Evelyn Smith is far from the stereotypical lonely, poorly old lady - at 86 years old, she's still lively, independent, quite healthy and has a network of friends and family living nearby. But even Evelyn sometimes feels a little vulnerable and needs some reassurance in the back of her mind that should anything untoward happen - either when she's at home or out and about, it wouldn't be too long before someone knew about it.
Evelyn looked after a village shop in a bustling area of the Yorkshire Dales until 1977, then converted the shop into a B&B, which she ran until just six years ago. Twice widowed - in 1977 and again in 1983 - Evelyn still drives a car and is out almost daily, shopping in Skipton or visiting her brother 40 miles away in Burnley.
But last year Evelyn had a freak accident - she was literally blown across the street by a strong gust of wind which broke her arm in several places. Now, she's a little more nervous: "The accident shook me up a little and made me realise that I need to be a bit more careful these days."
Evelyn's absolutely determined to stay in the home where she has lived since she was married in 1940. But it was concern for her that got grandson James Batchelor thinking about a simple, non-intrusive way of keeping the family informed as to her wellbeing wherever she might be - and that resulted in the concept of Alertacall. It's a revolutionary new service that confirms the safety of people living alone and is cheap and simple to install. All the user needs is an ordinary telephone line in their home.
All Evelyn has to do is press a special button on the Alertacall phone that was provided to her by an agreed time each day and the system knows she is safe and well. Should she fail to press the button, then Alertacall first tries to call Evelyn to check she is OK - and if they can't reach her they continue to call up to three nominated people to alert them to the fact there may be a problem.
Evelyn finds the knowledge that loved ones will soon know if anything's wrong very reassuring. "I think it's a great idea - it makes me feel a lot easier, safer. I know a lot of people who would benefit from this - people like my brother in Hereford, who's got one of those pendant things but refuses point blank to wear it. I think the pendant things make you feel more vulnerable somehow - not less."
Says James: "It's one of those things that, until something happens, it's hard to see any value in it. It was my own circumstances that gave me the idea for Alertacall - and having had some business experience, I couldn't help thinking that there would be a wider audience for it than my Gran!"
Every now and again Jackie Webb simply can't get out of bed. Jackie is one of 600,000* people in the UK who suffers from rheumatoid arthritis. Most of the time, she's OK and lives a busy and active life, breeding and showing toy poodles - she has nine at the moment!
But sometimes, without warning, she wakes in pain and can't move - and, because it's unpredictable, she never knows when it might happen. "I do worry a bit living on my own that if something awful was to happen no-one would know about it for days."
Jackie divorced in 1981 - her arthritis came on at about the same time - and she's lived alone since her children left home. Daughter Jo, 32, doesn't live very close by and as she's used to her mother's fierce independence she's not on the phone checking up on her every five minutes. Jackie wouldn't want her to… after all, at 57 she's far from being old. But after a couple of scary days last year, she's understandably a bit nervous.
Jackie's situation was just the sort of scenario that gave her daughter's boyfriend, James Batchelor, the idea for Alertacall. It's a revolutionary new service that confirms the safety of people living alone, is cheap and simple to install and all the user needs is an ordinary telephone line. All Jackie has to do is simply press a special button by a certain time each day to confirm she is OK. If she doesn't, Alertacall is at once alerted and if they can't raise Jackie, they will call up to three nominated people to alert them to the fact there may be a problem.
"It doesn't take long to get into the habit of pressing the button every day - I started by marking it off on my calendar, right by the phone - so I knew I'd done it - but now its like second nature," says Jackie.
"There's no way I'd wear one of those pendant things - that's like giving in to old age - and it won't help if something happens to me when I'm out, which I often am, with the dogs. But with Alertacall, I feel a lot better knowing that someone would soon know if I didn't press it - it's peace of mind, really. And I'm not putting pressure on my kids to worry about their Mum and ring every day."
Which suits daughter Jo, who is busy running her own retail business, just fine. "Catching Mum in is a hit and miss affair anyway - she's often out early with the dogs and out in the evenings playing Bridge. This way, even if I haven't been able to get hold of her for a while, I still know she's alright."
*Figures Age Concern and Data Digest - A True Vision production for Channel 4, broadcast May 2002
A revolutionary new service that confirms the safety of loved ones is being launched in Britain. Thought to be a world first, Alertacall is a simple and low cost new way for families or friends to keep a daily check on older or frail relatives who lead independent lives but live alone.
"Some 3.5 million people live alone, but more frighteningly 32 people die alone and unnoticed in their home every day*" says James Batchelor, the brains behind Alertacall and a 'concerned' grandson himself.
James realised his own concerns were shared by millions of other people across Britain with more vulnerable home family members who live on their own. As well as the elderly, this might include disabled people living independently - or simply someone living alone and recovering from an illness or operation.
"Lots of people at an increased risk by living alone are actually quite independent and lead quite busy lives - which makes it even more difficult to keep in touch," say James. Alertacall's research suggests that a lot of older people living on their own are reluctant to wear pendants or have panic buttons installed in their home as they simply don't see themselves as being in the 'at risk' category and find the idea of these devices akin to an admission of defeat. What's more, many other systems rely on the older person actually pressing a button to call for help - but what happens if they're not in a position to do so?
Now, thanks to his new service, James knows, on a daily basis, that grandma Evelyn is doing fine. All she has to do is press a special button on her Alertacall phone by an agreed time each day and the system knows she is safe and well. Should she fail to press the button, then Alertacall first tries to call Evelyn to check she is OK - and if they can't reach her they continue to call up to three nominated people to alert them to the fact there may be a problem.
"With Alertacall, families know that unless they hear otherwise, their loved one is OK. This is ideal for people who may not want to make a nuisance of themselves by calling every day or who lead such busy lives they are not able to check on their loved ones all the time," says James.
For just £9.99 a month people who are worried about living alone or their families can sign up to the Alertacall service. Set up costs - which include a special Alertacall phone featuring extra big buttons - are covered by a one-off payment of £25. The service can be cancelled at any time, so there are no long or complicated contracts to worry about, and the user keeps the phone.
"The monthly membership equates to the price of a pizza and for that, families can enjoy the peace of mind of knowing that the well being of someone they care about is being monitored on a daily basis," says James.
Anyone who would like more information should contact Alertacall on 0808 156 5777 or visit www.alertacall.com
*Figures Age Concern and Data Digest - A True Vision production for Channel 4, broadcast May 2002.