Implementing Telecare
Plan the roll-out

All the work of planning and preparing is lost if the early implementation is not introduced into the operational environment with care and sensitivity. The early roll-out is where users and carers experience Telecare for the first time. Those who were reluctant about, or felt threatened by the changes now have their opportunity to show any faults in the system or reiterate their concerns.

Items in the plan

The initial project plan will have anticipated as many actions / activities as possible, but will inevitably miss something. This could include:

• equipment purchase and (inter)connectivity requirements;
• property surveys and modifications, including cabling, joinery, security, telephone connections;
• selecting and managing installation contractors;
• battery management (replacement programmes), asset management, storage, decontamination and recycling;
• call handling requirements;
• staff training, and cover for staff absent on training;
• financial control;
• communication with staff, contractors, service users.

Which group of users?

If not already decided in the initial planning stages, one of the first project tasks for roll-out will be to agree which group of service users, or which geographical area, will be the first to benefit from the project – e.g. people with dementia, those with long-term conditions, or those with learning disabilities, etc. Many factors will influence this choice, including:

• where most benefit is expected;
• perceived readiness of service users to accept and use the system;
• enthusiasm of care staff in an area;
• technical factors, such as available equipment suited for one group;
• pressure from elected representatives or media;
• wider strategic objectives of the authority;
• whether there is a focus on prevention or risk management within the partnership.

Measuring the baseline

Once an area is chosen for early implementation, an urgent task is to assemble baseline data on the factors which will be used in evaluation – otherwise it will not be possible to demonstrate improvement / outcomes derived from using Telecare. See Section 4.3 of this chapter for further guidance on how to do this.

Active communication is vital during roll-out. Staff need to know what is happening to their area, when it will happen and how it will affect them personally. Local management must also understand and approve the process or they will not promote the project.

Surveys of completed areas (involved in initial roll-out) will provide the project team with vital information on how to deliver future service developments by learning from the experiences of service users, carers, staff and their managers.