Warden Call scheme - help at the touch of a button

THE radio crackles – “Ambulance on its way, will be with you shortly,” says the voice. “Ten-four, thanks for that,” comes the reply.

An elderly woman has fallen at home, but because she has an automatic pendant connected to the York Warden Call control centre, one of the wardens was dispatched within seconds of her stumble. A quick assessment showed she has a head injury and to be on the safe side she ought to go to A&E.

City of York Council employs 21 wardens; six cover the day time, while two are permanently on duty through the night.

Then there are the operators at the control centre in Evelyn Crescent. Here, staff help nearly 4,000 people, classified as vulnerable and aged from 18 upwards, to continue living in their homes.

Kristine Sinclair has just started her shift as a mobile warden. She has an idea of how the day is going to pan out, but a radio message changes all that; as it always does.

One of her clients has fallen; she’s the nearest and the routine call in her diary will have to wait half an hour.

“That’s what makes the job so interesting, I wouldn’t like being stuck in the office at all,” says Kristine.

“We save the ambulance service and GPs so much because without us they would have to go out to people who don’t need them. When we arrive if an ambulance is needed, that’s when we make the call.”

The wardens are the fourth emergency service in many ways. On call 24 hours a day, in all weathers, they offer independence for vulnerable people and peace of mind for their families.

“Most people want to stay in their own homes don’t they? And to me it’s about giving them independence, because they only see us when they want us. We’re not there to interfere.”

We are off to visit one of those people. Leslie Rhodes, 86, is having a carbon monoxide detector fitted in his hall today and Tony the Warden Call handyman is already there, drill in hand.

Kristine has come along with Helen Crompton to make sure everything is wired up correctly and the cheery voice on the other end confirms all is OK with a resounding ‘Ten-four’.

“If it wasn’t for the wardens, I wouldn’t be able to stay here and being disabled, that means a lot to me,” says Mr Rhodes.

“It’s a lifeline because without them I’d have to go into a care home, but I wouldn’t like that. I had a fall in the bathroom the other day and without them, I’d still be lying there.”

And having someone at the end of a phone means he can still live in the place he’s called home for years, with all his bits and bobs – not to mention the parrot.

“Whenever I’ve rung I’ve never been told there’s nobody here,” he says.

“And I’ve never had to wait more than ten minutes. They come and visit as well sometimes, you know. I don’t know if Kristine doesn’t fancy me.”

A couple of years ago the wardens held front door keys, but fumbling around for the right one in the middle of a cold night was less than ideal. So a keyless system was introduced.

At the time, the council got a bit of stick for it, but Mr Rhodes says it makes a lot of sense and more importantly when he was lying helpless on the floor, the last thing a warden needed was to try and find the right key.

And in these days of cutbacks, there is a considerable saving too, because 4,000 keys that would normally have to be cut now are no longer needed. And at around £4 each, that’s nearly a warden’s pay for the year.

At the control centre, operators deal with anxiety calls, say when someone has fallen over. But most don’t need medical attention, just need a bit of help getting on with their lives. Or, at 3am when the night seems endless, a friendly voice to talk to.

Control centre manager Marion Barclay tells me that callers will never be met with an answerphone message. Day or night, there is someone on hand.

She says: “Our service is all about letting people maintain their independence in their own home with dignity and we give them the back up to do that.”

One of the ways is with Telecare, a new system being installed in clients’ homes. Graham Terry, assistant director of adult provision and transformation, said the new system was protected from austerity cuts. “The council agreed a budget last week to provide an investment over the next five years of £1.25 million in Telecare equipment,” he said.

Some may only need a smoke alarm, but every conceivable aid is on offer, from personal triggers to temperature extreme monitors.

All automatically tell the control centre operators who has a problem and, crucially, where they live. And it’s not just householders who have benefited; York’s 11 sheltered homes have also been fitted with the devices.

Telecare removes worries about not being able to raise the alarm. The Warden Call service is different to home care, which is usually provided once or twice a day to look after frail or disabled people.

“Home care isn’t an emergency service and with us people can call at any time,” says Kristine. “In the recent cold weather, a lot of people phoned in because their pipes had frozen or they had massive leaks. When you’re in your eighties or nineties, that can be very distressing.”

Bogus callers sometimes prey on the elderly, but they have met their match: those who sign up to the scheme can have a discrete button that allows staff to listen in and, where appropriate, take action.

At the control centre, Lesley Daniels’ phone rarely stops ringing and she has just monitored one of those bogus calls. There, she says, some funny sides to the job, such as the time she was called out at 3am to turn off an electric blanket, or peel an orange, or open a bag of sweets.

“We do get a few strange calls, but we don’t mind,” says Lesley. “Because for every one you get, there will be 50 more who do need help and that’s when we can be of real use.”

Warden Call costs £18.42 a month and that covers everything from installing monitors to warden visits.

It also buys something priceless. The wardens I met are as dedicated a bunch of people as I’ve come across in a long time. Passionate, committed, they even volunteered to work out of hours during the blizzards of last December.

“We don’t just see elderly people and everybody’s circumstances are different,” says Kristine. “There are some who have terrible injuries and they put us to shame really when you see what they’re living through day after day in their own homes.”

Leslie Rhodes might think that’s a bit harsh though. If it wasn’t for the likes of Kristine, he wouldn’t be living in his own home at all.