East Lothian Council's telecare service receives 'gold' standard award

The East Lothian Council Contact Centre (ELCCC), based at Macmerry, manages all council calls for East Lothian, as well as assistive technology services for Midlothian and Scottish Borders councils.

Following a recent rigorous inspection of the premises including interviewing senior managers and call handlers and assessing the training and practice of the team, the service was awarded the Gold Award from CECOPS CIC, the independent, not-for-profit certification and standards body, aiming to raise the standard of all assistive technology related services across the UK.

CECOPS is the only standards body representing all assistive technology services.

East Lothian’s telecare service handles calls from users of assistive technology such as call bells, door monitors and smoke detectors which are linked to the service.

Key findings within the CECOPS report include: “Frequent compliments are received by the service with only two complaints in the past year, which were dealt with appropriately.

"Surveys are issued to customers and any information gathered is used to help improve overall experience and outcomes.

“The service provides a service to three local authorities: Midlothian, East Lothian and the Borders area.

"It has strong links with the NHS, as well as an excellent working relationship with the managers overseeing the service.

"Managers from the (contracted) local authorities spoke highly of the service.”

Monica Patterson, East Lothian Council chief executive, said: “The telecare service provides invaluable support to some of the most vulnerable individuals within our communities.

"The reassurance provided by the telecare team in response to contact for help is appreciated by the service users and family members.

"I would like to add my personal congratulations to the team achieving and maintaining such a high standard of service and the first in telecare to achieve the gold standard.”