Get on our soapbox and sound off about telecare issues.

Contact Steve Hards if you’d like to contribute a short article or want to suggest someone whose views you’d like to hear. Anonymous contributions and follow-up comments will be considered.

Council runs liability risk with inappropriate telecare provision
December 2007

James Batchelor, MD of Alertacall, raises a serious issue for councils and other telecare suppliers: what risk is a council running when its employee substitutes a ’standard’ but inappropriate equipment package for a privately-funded one that was more suitable for the client? Would the person’s consent to the course of action be a defence if the consent were based on inappropriate advice?

Tesco Telecare: How far away?
November 2007

This item by Paul Gee, Chief Executive of the UK’s Telecare Services Association (TSA), was originally published Autumn 2007 in the TSA’s magazine.

What’s wrong with the UK’s model of telecare?
September 2007

Telecare practitioner Rufus Handy articulates in a forthright manner what many people seem to be thinking about the way telecare is currently being presented and implemented.

When ‘Smart’ is not smart enough
August 2007

The Smart House movement pre-dates the introduction of telecare. Guy Dewsbury challenges the current trend of branding telecare-enabled accommodation as ’smart’. Read his Telecare Soapbox item: and here are links to two articles that exemplify what he is objecting to.
Show home to improve independent living
‘Smart House’ uses new technology to promote independent living

Postscript to the UK budget announcement
March 2007

What was Chancellor Gordon Brown up to when he announced that the VAT rate on equipment to help older and disabled people live independently would reduce to 5%? Steve Hards reflects.

LTC demonstrator sites to kill off small telecare suppliers?
November 2006

Click on the title to read this Telecare Soapbox speculation by Steve Hards, concerning the potential double-edged effect of the Department of Health’s large ‘White Paper pilots: whole system long term conditions (LTC) demonstrator programme’.

Tortoise or Hare – Who’s going to win the Telecare Race?
August 2006

Click on the title to read the first Telecare Soapbox feature by Dr Kevin Doughty, of the University of York’s Centre for Usable Home Technology. Kevin speculates on the prospects for successful mainstreaming of telecare in the UK.