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Reluctant to call in an actual emergency

Posted By Carer for mum

"Reluctant to call in an actual emergency"

About: Adult Health Services / Community Alarm Service

(as a relative),

My Mum, who is in her nineties and has hand tremors, has a local authority community alarm service which she pays for. This service is to alert for falls and illness for vulnerable and elderly people.

One morning recently I was with her while she was getting dressed and she accidentally set off the wrist alarm. When the person on duty answered, I apologised and explained it was a mistake. Before they finished the call we heard them say this drives them nuts and another comment I didn't quite catch. If I had not been there to hear this, my Mum would have been very upset and reluctant to call in an actual emergency. I've had to reassure her and convince her that the alarm is sensitive for good reason and she should keep wearing it. I am very annoyed. 

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Responses

Response from John McGeough, Service Manager - Home Support, North Lanarkshire Health & Social Care Partnership 4 days ago
John McGeough
Service Manager - Home Support,
North Lanarkshire Health & Social Care Partnership

Submitted on 02/07/2024 at 18:22
Published on Care Opinion on 03/07/2024 at 08:12

Dear Carer for mum,

I am sorry that you and your mum have had such a poor experience following your mum's recent accidental activation of her community alarm. Vulnerable service users such as your mum need to be encouraged and reassured that should they require support from the community alarm service they will receive this support. I would wish to reassure you and your mum this should continue to be the case and would encourage your mum to continue to use this service.

I am aware of the incident you have mentioned and would advise that the operator concerned has been spoken to and she has advised that she had not fully closed the call down and in no way was referring to your mum activating the alarm, rather she was voicing frustrations regarding updates she was making to the system that were taking significant time to upload.

Regardless of this you and your mum should not have had to listen to a member of staff voicing frustrations and would reiterate my apologies to both you and your mum on behalf of the service.

The manager of the community alarm service will speak with all operators to ensure there is no repeat of you and your mum's recent poor experience when interacting with the service.

Kind Regards

John

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