Campaign to Save Ealing Careline Soldiers On

Supporters of service refusing to accept council's decision

Around 50 former service users turned up to give testimony on how change had affected them

May 2, 2024

Despite Ealing Council’s refusal to reconsider the decision to scrap the Ealing Careline service, campaigners have not given up on hopes of a reversal.

In response to questions raised at a council meeting earlier this month by Roy Willis, Chair of Ealing Reclaim Social Care Action Group (ERSCAG), the councillors with responsibility for the decision defended the move to close the 24/7 emergency contact service arguing that alternative provision was adequate.

However, the group remain unconvinced that the 3,000 subscribers in the borough of Ealing will be getting an equivalent service describing the responses received as ‘formulaic.

Further information was hoped for at a meeting organised by the ERSCAG along with the Campaign for Action in Sheltered Housing and ACORN Community Union on Wednesday 24 April at Walnut Court in Ealing.

Around fifty users the previous Careline service in the borough attended hoping to explain their situation to Cllrs Bassam Mahfouz and Josh Blacker who are implementing the closure.

Cllr Mahfouz was unable to attend because he is barred from meetings during the London Assembly elections as he is standing as Labour’s candidate for Ealing and Hillingdon. Cllr Blacker and the Leader of Ealing Council, Peter Mason, also declined to attend.

Six councillors did however turn up, two from each political party, Cllr Wesson and Cllr Kate Crawford (Labour), Cllr Zissimos and Cllr Ball (Liberal Democrat), and Cllr Gallant and Cllr Kumar (Conservative) and they listened to the concerns those present raised.

Testimonies were provided about the impact of the closure of the service from those living in sheltered Housing or recipients of Adult Social Care. They claimed that they were being left without any emergency cover; confused and uncertain as to whether they have emergency cover or not; worried about the financial consequences of this service being passed over to a private company rather than in-house; worried about the lack of engagement with users, an ‘inadequate’ consultation process, and a transition process to the outsource Harrow Careline that was described as poorly handled.

Concern was also expressed that many people may be falling through the cracks and may not (by reason of frailty, age or disability) even be aware that they no longer have an Ealing Careline service.

The councillors present all agreed to convey our concerns onto colleagues, and to stay in touch with the campaign for a reversal of the decision to close the Careline or at the very least to ensure a like for like service.

The council announced the decision to close the 24/7 emergency call-out system used by elderly and disabled people in the borough earlier this year. According to the union which employed Careline staff, the service answered 124,000 alarm calls last year.

A spokesperson for Ealing Council said, “We made the difficult decision to transfer Careline to Harrow because of concerns about the council’s ability to deliver the service to the standards our residents deserve and expect.

“Residents in receipt of adult social care continue to receive telecare telephone monitoring services via the Harrow Careline service, and we are considering commissioning an improved in-person responder service to supplement the Harrow Careline offer.

“We continue to talk with and listen to residents in sheltered accommodation about the changes and we are providing support to help them choose and arrange telecare services with alternative providers. Where appropriate, residents are also being referred to social care for assessments.

“Ealing Careline was also heavily subsidised by the council and needed significant additional investment for it to be modernised and fit for purpose. Given the significant pressures on council budgets, we simply could not afford to do this, but we have made arrangements so that all residents continue to receive the support they need.”