Elderly people's personal alarms rendered useless by BT digital phone rollout

[dutchman]

As many as 500,000 vulnerable people could be unable to call for help if they fall



Users of personal healthcare alarms face being unable to call for help if they have a medical emergency, as BT’s digital phone rollout will render many of the devices useless, the telecoms watchdog has warned.

BT and other providers are replacing all traditional landline phones in Britain with new “voice over internet” phones that make calls using broadband by 2025, as the decades-old “public switched” copper line network has become too complex to manage.

But it means many panic alarms which use analogue phone line technology to call up relatives or the emergency services will cease to function.

Close to half a million BT customers use the devices, which typically are strapped to a wrist or worn on a pendant around the neck in case of a fall or serious medical incident, such as a stroke or heart attack.

The regulator Ofcom warned devices linked to landlines will need to be replaced or reconfigured and said it was concerned vulnerable customers were not being identified and informed their devices could stop working.

It has written to the big four telecoms providers BT, Sky, Virgin and TalkTalk expressing dismay at the lack of preparedness among users of the emergency devices.

It told the telecom companies their “triaging of vulnerable consumers has been inadequate, and the advice received inaccurate”. It raised concerns that many customers were unaware their phone lines were being replaced and that their devices would stop operating until a few days before their landlines were switched off.

Alarm provider PPP Taking Care also warned certain devices would no longer work.

Caroline Abrahams of Age UK, Britain’s biggest charity for the elderly, said “public communications about the switchover have been poor to date and urgently need attention”. “Older people need to know from their telecoms provider, Ofcom and the Government what will happen when, and what their options are,” she added.