Telecare stakeholder action plan: analogue to digital switchover

The Department for Health and Social Care is taking a pro-active approach to support the telecare sector and the people who use those services in relation to the telecommunications industry led switchover from analogue to digital telephone lines by 2025, and have now released a Telecare stakeholder action plan.

The Action Plan includes work by TSA, Local Government Association's Digital Switchover Working Group, UKTelehealthcare, TechUK,  Housing LIN, OTA2, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), Ofcom and BT. 

While the Action Plan is for England, the switchover is UK wide and there is close working with the devolved administrations.      

By publishing a Stakeholder Action Plan, DHSC is coordinating actions that stakeholders are taking that will support telecare service providers, telecare suppliers and the telecommunications sector, and put people who use telecare services at the centre of switchover plans. 
 
Digital systems will create a basis for a next generation of TEC services that will provide a means for more personalised and early preventive interventions. The digital switchover, which will be completed by 2025, has potential implications for the 1.8 million people who rely on telecare services in the UK.

Telecare is still mainly provided through analogue equipment and the Action Plan seeks to encourage the telecare and telecommunications sectors to work together to mitigate risks and encourage understanding of the switchover.

T​he action plan:

• considers how local authority telecare services may be transformed going forward.

• seeks to resolve technical issues such as supporting more testing of existing analogue equipment to determine what devices will work reliably on digital lines in the short term after switchover, and keep users safe;

• aims to improve overall communication and co-ordination between telecommunication providers, telecare providers and suppliers, and with people who use telecare services;

You can find the action plan in its entirety here.

L​ast updated: 7​ December 2022