Local authorities and the NHS will not receive funding from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology to meet the cost of replacing telecare devices in the digital switchover, a minister has said.
Julia Lopez, the minister for data and digital infrastructure, stated the position in response to a parliamentary question from Conservative MP Sir Desmond Swayne.
This has derived from the telecoms industry plans to move away from the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), on which many telecare devices operate, to digital landlines by 2025.
Asked if the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) will provide financial assistance to vulnerable people to handle the switchover, Lopez acknowledged that many devices will have to be replaced, but indicated that DSIT would not provide support.
“Since the switchover is not led by government, there is no designated funding available from DSIT,” she said.
“Where telecare devices are provided by local authorities or the NHS, these organisations will need to ensure that telecare users have compatible devices.
“Telecare users should contact the organisation providing their devices, to discuss what support is available to them.”
Financial burden
This comes after indications from local government replacing the devices will impose a significant financial burden on cash strapped local authorities.
Last year the Local Government Association (LGA) warned that most of its members did not know how they would pay for the change, and earlier this year London’s chief digital officer, Theo Blackwell, produced a briefing paper saying the switchover could push up the costs of telecare services in the city.
The Department for Health and Social Care published a stakeholder action plan in late 2022, focused on actions to be taken by care providers and providing no indication of central funding.
The LGA has produced a checklist of issues to take into account for organisations that commission or provide telecare. This covers risk mitigation for existing services and tasks for the move to new digital services.
