Care provider Corserv Care, which is owned by Cornwall Council, has joined forces with digital care technology company 2iC-Care to roll out their ‘Andi’ digital technology across the county.
The new partnership promises to transform home care provision for thousands of people across Cornwall.
The move means that Cornwall is leading the way when it comes to smart healthcare technology, as the first region to embrace the exciting new digital solution.
Andi will connect a range of healthcare devices people have in their own homes, from fall monitors to light and motion sensors, so that changes in behaviour can be quickly identified and acted upon.
The Andi hubs will allow people to access all the information they need about their care in one place. This will reduce frustration for individuals and families who often struggle to navigate multiple different technologies and systems which don’t ‘talk to each other’.
Just like traditional telecare services, the digital hubs also provide alarm services so that people living at home can access immediate support from care professionals when they need it – for example after a fall.
The preventative approach to care is expected to save the local health system hundreds of thousands of pounds per year as it can track and respond to worrying trends in a person’s health or environment before problems worsen, or they need to be hospitalised.
The move will mean that people with care needs across Cornwall can stay in their own homes for longer – living safely and independently with the knowledge that the digital care service can lead to a rapid response from a highly trained care team when needed.
Corserv Care’s announcement also comes as all areas of the country are switching their traditional analogue phone lines over to digital – before analogue phone lines are cut off in 2025.
Campaigners have long raised concerns about how this move would affect rural areas which have less reliable mobile phone networks and have therefore relied on landline connections for telecare services. The challenge is particularly acute in Cornwall, where traditional granite house construction further limits mobile phone connectivity, and therefore the range of telecare products that can be used in the county.
Using 2iC-Care’s technology, people in even the most rural areas of the county will be able to rely on crucial care services throughout the digital switch-over, and long into the future as technology enabled care becomes the norm. The ‘Andi’ digital hubs are designed to operate in areas with poor mobile or internet connection, meaning they can send critical alerts and information about a person’s health where other services would be unable.