From Analogue Switch-Off to Digital Resilience: A Case Study in Innovation
The Challenge: A Nationwide Digital Transition
The UK’s impending analogue switch-off presented a significant challenge for the Clackmannanshire & Stirling Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP). Their Mobile Emergency Care Service (MECS), a lifeline for 3,500 vulnerable people, relied entirely on analogue technology. The initial brief was clear: execute a like-for-like replacement of analogue devices with hybrid digital units to ensure service continuity.
However, what emerged was a far more ambitious and transformative project. The HSCP and its partners, including Careium, saw beyond the simple hardware swap. We collectively envisioned an opportunity to future-proof the entire service, enhance safety, improve reliability, and build a scalable hybrid foundation for years to come.
The Careium Solution: Beyond Hardware to Strategic Partnership
Careium was selected not just as the equipment provider, but as a strategic technology partner. Following several years as telecare supplier for both authorities, our role was to supply hybrid digital alarms that operate over the mobile network, ensuring a seamless transition. But our true contribution, and the core of this case study, lies in how our collaborative, open approach enabled three critical innovations that elevated the entire project.
1. Innovation in Safety: Secure Link Between Fire Detection and Telecare
A key project expansion was the decision to integrate interlinked heat and smoke detectors with the telecare units, a complex technical challenge driven by Scottish Government guidance. Through a Scottish Federation of Housing Associations (SFHA) Test of Change grant, our experts worked directly with the HSCP’s programme team, housing officials, and detector manufacturer AiCO. Our team worked hand-in-hand with AiCO to identify and validate a specific mains-powered relay with battery backup. This device was hardwired into our telecare units, creating a resilient and safe radio frequency connection to the interlinked detectors.
A proven, reliable solution was developed and tested over six months. This ensures that if a fire alarm is activated, an alert is immediately sent to the Alarm Receiving Centre (ARC), triggering an emergency response. This groundbreaking work has since been shared nationally, informing Scottish Fire & Rescue Service guidance and making households across Scotland safer.
2. Innovation in Performance: Collaborative Problem-Solving for Enhanced Reliability
During the early rollout, the HSCP’s dedicated Technology Enabled Care (TEC) installers identified an issue: our devices were not seamlessly roaming across all mobile networks as expected. Instead of a traditional supplier-client escalation, this became a true technical collaboration. The installers used signal scanning devices to gather precise field data and, on occasion, called our technical team directly from service users’ homes to demonstrate the issue in real-time.
A firmware update was deployed across the entire estate, significantly improving the performance and resilience of the telecare service. This fix not only benefited the Clackmannanshire & Stirling project but was rolled out to all UK customers using the same devices, improving telecare reliability nationwide. The change gave customers the ability to deprioritise certain mobile network providers if they became problematic in a geographical region.
3. Innovation in Implementation: Enabling a Smoother ARC Migration
The project’s scope evolved to include migrating to a new, fully digital Alarm Receiving Centre (ARC), the Shared ARC for Scotland provided by Chubb/Skyresponse. While the implementation of the new ARC was led by the HSCP and Chubb, Careium’s established direct relationship and technical collaboration with Skyresponse was a key enabler, helping to ensure the successful onboarding for Stirling, Clackmannanshire and the other Scottish authorities in the Shared ARC service.
We provided necessary technical insights and support to ensure a smooth integration between our devices and the new ARC platform, supporting the end-to-end digital connection. Furthermore, the project team’s work with Chubb to automate the data migration created the first-ever template for the Shared ARC. This drastically reduced risk, accelerated the implementation timeline, and has now created a proven pathway for other local authorities to follow, cementing this project’s legacy as a pioneer for Scotland.
The Result: A Future-Proofed Service Built on Trust
The successful go-live of the new digital ARC in February 2025 marked the completion of a multi-year journey built on a foundation of strong partnership. The benefits are tangible:
- Uninterrupted Service: 3,500 supported people are shielded from the analogue switch-off.
- Enhanced Safety: Integrated fire and telecare systems provide greater protection.
- Improved Reliability: Digital signals and firmware-enhanced devices ensure alarms get through.
- Operational Efficiency: New Responder App streamlines dispatch and admin for MECS teams.
- Scalability: The shared digital ARC creates a cost-effective foundation for growing the service and adopting new technologies.
Conclusion
The Clackmannanshire & Stirling digital telecare transition is a powerful testament to what can be achieved when public and private sectors work as genuine partners.
By embedding ourselves within the project team, listening to installers and responders, and ollaborating openly with all partners, from AiCO on fire safety to supporting the ARC migration, we helped transform a necessary upgrade into a benchmark-setting programme for digital telecare in Scotland. This project was more than the sum of its parts. It was about a shared commitment to safeguarding the most vulnerable in our society through innovation, collaboration, and a determination to build something better, together.
