Chamber and committees

The decision on what individual devices and systems to procure is entirely a matter for individual authorities and commissioners. There is nothing to suggest that existing analogue devices are insufficient, as they work well across the existing analogue telephony network. It is only once the move to a digital telephony infrastructure commences that there may be a potential conflict between analogue devices and a digital network.

In exploring what is involved in the shift from analogue to digital systems, the Scottish Government, via the Scottish Centre for Telehealth & Telecare, commissioned a feasibility study. The first part of this audited the current digital status of telecare solutions in Scotland and examined the potential benefits that a move to digital telecare may deliver. This was published in October 2015 and can be accessed at http://sctt.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/NHS24D3V3_0-Final-Report-Updated-12th-Oct-2015.pdf.

This report confirmed that no Scottish telecare solution currently meets the definition of ‘end-to-end’ digital telecare. There are examples of deployments based on digital technology, for example geofencing and video camera use, but these are limited in scale and number and tend to be deployed as standalone solutions, separate to the main telecare systems. The report also set out a number of benefits of moving to digital systems.

An implementation guide on the move to digital systems is due to be published late July 2016. This sets out the technical requirements and options. The next stage will be developing a number of test sites to explore the service possibilities. The Scottish Government is working on this with COSLA, the Improvement Service, the Scottish Centre for Telehealth & Telecare and the Digital Health & Care Institute.