Telecare service receives some 240 calls a day

Maltacom has bound itself to subsidise 10,000 elderly people for the Telecare service until 2009 through an agreement it signed yesterday.

Spanning a period of five years, starting from next month, the agreement - signed by Maltacom chairman Sonny Portelli and director of health Ray Busuttil - aims to increase the number of available lines for Telecare users by 1,000 by 2009 from the current 9,000.

Parliamentary secretary Helen D'Amato, who is responsible for the elderly (persons aged 60 and over), emphasised the importance of the service for elderly people living on their own, who have the peace of mind that there is somebody ready to help them 24 hours a day.

"It is essential for people living in the community, who spend a lot of time on their own, especially during the night, because it means help at the press of a button," she said.

Ms D'Amato also urged those people who have the service to wear the pendant, which makes it easy for them to call for help if they need it. She said the pendant was there for the user to put on while at home and on their own, and not to be left in a drawer for safekeeping. In case of damage, the pendant, as well as the set, are changed.

An average of 240 calls are received in a 24-hour period. Although Ms D'Amato stressed that these were all important - because if a person felt the need to communicate with someone it meant that he needed help at that particular moment - a daily average of three were urgent.

She said some elderly citizens used the Telecare to make sure that it was working, but the service provider itself periodically phoned the elderly person to ensure that the line was working. She said they also made it a point of phoning users on their birthday.

Although Maltacom is investing in state-of-the-art digital technology, the rates for the elderly will remain the same. The system is heavily subsidised by the government, and elderly users pay Lm1 a month for the service.

Currently there are 9,000 available lines, but the agreement says that these will be increased by 200 annually, bringing the total number of lines to 10,000 by 2009. At the moment there are 8,863 elderly people making use of the service, while 97 applications are pending. The Maltacom chairman said the telephony company was making a "substantial investment" in the service, and was committed to continue giving the service to elderly people.

Mr Portelli said that although this investment would not mean any profit for Maltacom, it was possible to do it through the income it receives from other services.

Health and the Elderly Minister Louis Deguara said the service was intended to improve the quality of life for the elderly, and also give them the means to continue living within the community.

"Knowing that there is somebody ready to help them at the touch of a button gives them a sense of security," he said.

The minister launched an appeal for the service not to be abused. He said it was imperative that the people who received the service were the ones who really needed it, and when a user died or was no longer living on his own the service provider should be informed so that the line could be given to somebody else. He said an exercise was underway to ensure that the people who were benefiting from the service satisfied the necessary criteria.

Dr Deguara explained that for an elderly person to be given a Telecare line, he had to be either living on his own, or else in a household where another person was somebody suffering from a chronic disease. This meant that an elderly person living with a person who was bedridden would probably qualify for the service.

Mr Portelli said a plan was in the pipeline to start offering the service to other elderly people who did not satisfy the criteria for a subsidised service, but still felt more comfortable having it. However, he said, first things came first, and the first to get the service were the people who really needed it, and were thus eligible for the subsidy.

Moreover, he said, the company had plans to offer additional services with the Telecare package, including fire and intruder alarms.