Elite award for EDDC alarm service

East Devon District Council’s Home Safeguard service has comfortably retained a coveted industry chartermark – putting it among the top alarm providers in the UK.

The service for frail and vulnerable people first won the Telcare Services Association (TSA) accreditation three years ago and has since successfully passed two annual check-ups.

Last month (November), the TSA conducted a three-yearly audit, which is a tougher test than the annual checks and more akin to the original inspection in 2010, subjecting every aspect of Home Safeguard to in-depth scrutiny.

This included the inspector attending an actual demonstration of an alarm. Afterwards the inspector informed Support Officer Carole Edwards that she is performing within the top 10% of the organisations he visits.

The Inspector also spent some time in Home Safeguard’s Sidmouth control room, where he listened in on various calls in real time. Here again, the staff did very well under pressure.

The final report on the audit revealed no improvement notices, which means the inspector did not find anything that he felt was of concern and so awarded Home Safeguard a complete clean bill of health.

Amy Gilbert, EDDC’s Support Services and Home Safeguard Manager, said: "The inspection focuses heavily on the service we give to our customers and in passing this we are confident that Home Safeguard is continuing to deliver the very highest standards of customer care."

"The award places us among an elite group of providers nationally and means we are keeping up to date with all relevant developments in the sector - which in itself is no easy task. The award also means we can continue to bid for large monitoring contracts as this standard is what’s expected from any organisation looking to contract out work that HSG could take on. "

“We’re planning a bit of a party early in the New Year, when some of our customers will be invited along to celebrate with us”.