Efforts to improve a vital service for vulnerable East Renfrewshire residents have earned an award.

The success for East Renfrewshire’s Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) is in recognition of its work to make the area’s community alarm system, known as Telecare, fully digital.

Telecare provides a link from a resident’s home to a 24-hour response centre based within a community safety control room.

The alarm allows the user to call for help in an emergency at the touch of a button.

By 2025, telephone companies in the UK are switching off analogue telephone services and replacing them with digital internet-based technology.

To enable thousands of local residents to continue to use the Telecare service, compatible and future-proof call centre technology has had to be sourced.

Now the HSCP has been given the Gold Level Two Digital Telecare Implementation Award from Digital Telecare for Scottish Local Government in recognition of the progress made in the transition from analogue.

To achieve this, a Telecare provider must have successfully rolled out a live digital service to half of all service users and have operated it successfully, without serious issues or call failures, for at least six weeks.

Since the Gold Level One Implementation Award was achieved by East Renfrewshire HSCP in July last year, installation levels have far surpassed their projected targets.

As of March this year, the roll-out to digital users had reached 75 per cent.

Anne-Marie Monaghan, chair of the East Renfrewshire Integration Joint Board, which is the main decision-making body for the HSCP, said: “Telecare is a vital service for some our most vulnerable residents, as it helps them continue to live safely in the comfort of their own home.

“This is a fantastic achievement and it’s a testament to the Telecare team and their proactive approach that we have reached this milestone so quickly.

“A big well done to everyone involved.”

Officials at East Renfrewshire HSCP said they have faced “significant challenges with supplier stock availability” while rolling out the digital service.

To ensure timely deliveries, they have diversified their alarm distribution across three selected suppliers and there is a strong emphasis on swiftly installing alarms in clients’ homes.

Lee McLaughlin, head of adult service (communities and wellbeing) at East Renfrewshire HSCP, said: “I’m really delighted that this project is being delivered at such pace.

“The roll-out of digital alarms in East Renfrewshire is a priority for the Health and Social Care Partnership and this is a significant milestone.

“I would like to thank our implementation team for their excellent planning, professionalism, hard work and sheer tenacity.

“The project is set to be complete in the summer and I look forward to celebrating after the last installation.”