Social Care Awards 2021

14 GHP / Social Care Awards 2021 , Jan21271 Taking Care, a subsidiary of AXAHealth, has been providing technology enabled care services for more than 30 years. Since 2008 alone, it has helped 170,000 people stay safe in their homes, supporting customers and their families across the UK. As well as its direct-to-consumer offering, Taking Care provides the Age Co personal alarms that help support Age UK’s charitable work. In addition, it is a collaborative partner to a number of Housing providers and District Councils, ensuring Technology Enabled Care (TEC) secures positive outcomes for people, supporting them to live healthy and independent lives whilst reducing the demand on the NHS and local services. Steve Gates, Managing Director at Taking Care, tells us a little more about the company and how it ensures that it consistently provides the very best service. Best Elderly Personal Alarms Specialist – UK “As well as being members of the stringently regulated Telecare Services Association (TSA), we are also a Which? Trusted Trader approved service – this logo is widely recognised as a mark of excellence and helps consumers make the best purchase decisions possible for their needs,” he begins. “We do not outsource our staff, they are all highly trained, and we have three UK-based Emergency Resolution teams that provide a 24-hour monitoring service for our customers, so we are always available to answer alarm calls.” With an average response time of 6.3 seconds, customers can feel safe knowing they can get help fast, providing them, and their family members, with complete peace of mind that emergency calls won’t go unanswered and that help is available when it is needed most. There also exists a dedicated field team who will repair or replace the equipment free of charge should it develop a fault or stop working. “The very nature of the service provided (when customers are at their most vulnerable) means that there is a cross-organisation focus on person centred interactions and outcomes,” continues Steve. “All of our staff are DBS checked and trained to the highest standard across our three Emergency Resolution sites. We listen to and value all of our employees across the business (through regular Pulse surveys), helping to develop them and focus on recognising individual achievement and work, as well as team accomplishments too.” Recently, national telecom provider BT announced that in 2025 it will be switching off analogue phone lines and phone services will become completely digital. Whilst there are some fantastic benefits to this digital switchover, it also comes with its share of challenges. Steve explains that, at Taking Care, this digital migration is always at the forefront of any future plans. The firm is also fortunate to have access to technology insights from AXA Health, which aids in its work and implementing the next generation of products and services in order to help people deal with this leap into the digital age. “We are planning new product launches that are based on our consumer wants, with more focus on designing for dignity, using technology to aid prevention and to increase the quality of care,” Steve highlights, giving the examples of a smart home technology and Artificial Intelligence package called Safe Home Alert that has recently been launched. Taking Care Safe Home Alert will be used to help see changes in an elderly relative’s routine and predict problems before they occur. Taking Care is also collaborating with the TSA to understand data and cyber security risks in the context of the analogue-digital telephone switchover. “We will work closely with the TSA to develop UKAS-driven Measures of Excellence as well as a new Quality Rating System. This will help support us and other technology enabled care businesses in providing the security and resilience needed to effectively support their customers and keep them safe moving into the digital age.” Company: Taking Care Contact: Daniel Lennox / Kaya George Website: www.taking.care