On Monday 9 September 2019 we launched a pilot project in support of Clackmannanshire & Stirling Health and Social Care Partnership’s TEC (Technology Enabled Care) Service (formerly known as MECS).
Operating from 6.00 pm – 8.00 am Monday – Friday as well as 24/7 cover at weekends, our team make themselves available to support the official service by responding to falls by elderly TEC Service users in homes, as well as silent calls and welfare visits.
We have now taken 391 requests (figures correct as of 13 August 2020) for support spread across virtually every rural Stirling community. Whilst some of these calls see us dealing with accidental activations other calls involve resolving other matters such as falls without injury.
The TEC Service has also proved its worth with us responding quickly to a small number of fallers who have sustained potentially life-threatening injuries that we have been able to treat whilst awaiting the attendance of the Scottish Ambulance Service.
Requests for support come to our 24/7 Callout number and our nearest duty team is dispatched. At least one vehicle is crewed 24/7 and sometimes we have three vehicles crewed and available to attend. Our crews also attend for example, incidents on behalf of the Scottish Ambulance Service as First Responders, or respond to incidents where members of the public have used one of the 160 public access defibrillators we manage.
Using our three team vehicles spread across the rural Stirling council area, we respond from Strathblane to Tyndrum to Dunblane.
Feedback about this pilot project so far from service users, the official service, carers and family members has been very positive and we are looking to raise funds for additional equipment for use when delivering this service.
A report from the Care Inspectorate showed that this project is highly valued and that response times to calls in rural areas have decreased and also carers in urban areas can now reach patients much quicker.