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WQ.110/2023
WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES BY DEPUTY G.P. SOUTHERN OF ST. HELIER CENTRAL
QUESTION SUBMITTED ON MONDAY 13th MARCH 2023
ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON MONDAY 20th MARCH 2023
Question
Will the Minister provide details on what targets, if any, there are for increasing the take up of community alarms amongst patients for whom such devices provide a measure of security in the event of a fall or other incident in the home and if there are no such targets, will she advise why not; and will she further advise whether she considers the increase in monthly fee for the service could have an adverse effect on take up of the alarms, and if she does not consider this to be the case, why not?
Answer
Currently, we have a total of 1003 Islanders who have a community alarm. Of these, 892 are Islanders who have transitioned from the old analogue system to the new digital UMO system. Since July 2022 there have been 202 new service users. 91 have been removed from the system due to death or admission into a care home. This demonstrates an increase in take up overall.
There is no set target for the number of Islanders having a community alarm as to have an alarm is largely a personal choice. Islanders can either self-refer for an alarm or be referred by a health professional. There is no target for increasing the take up of community alarms as the uptake of alarms is difficult to predict, this is because the number enrolled will always fluctuate due to the reasons outlined above.
We do not believe that the increase in cost will deter Islanders from taking up an alarm, as those who are eligible for income support will continue to obtain this free. The cost of our community alarm is less than that provided by our on-island competitor and the figures demonstrate that there is a continued increase in uptake of alarm systems.