Some elderly people in Swindon have been left more vulnerable than they should after emergency call systems were been turned off by mistake as part of phone upgrades.

And according to the leader of Swindon Borough Council, Councillor Jim Robbins, one elderly woman was not helped after a fall until she was found by a neighbour, despite subscribing to the council’s Homeline service, which had been disconnected by a telecoms company, and had to spend a month in hospital.

Cllr Robbins has written an open letter to Michael Gove, the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Communities and Housing, urging him to mandate telecoms providers work with councils across the country to share information on which households need extra consideration.

He said: “Authorities across the country have expressed concerns about how UK phone providers are managing the switchover of old copper wire landlines to new digital fibre landline services.

“When phone providers enter customers’ homes to complete the upgrade, there have been numerous reports of elderly and vulnerable customers having their telephone community alarm systems inadvertently disconnected. That’s because the representative of the phone provider has either not plugged the alarm equipment back in or has done so incorrectly.

“Here in Swindon, the council runs a community alarm system called Homeline that serves over 3,000 residents. Should these residents ever need emergency assistance, for example after a fall, pressing the button on their necklace pendant will allow them to speak to a member of our response team.

“However, we have already seen incidents in Swindon of elderly and vulnerable residents not being able to get the support they need because their alarm system was disconnected as a result of a landline upgrade. After experiencing a fall in her home, one elderly resident was only discovered by a neighbour and required a month’s stay in hospital for treatment. “

Cllr Robbins says the council is not informed by the telecoms companies conducting the digital switchover, which has two years until completion, when and where they are changing residents’ systems.

This means the council is not aware when its Homeline subscribers are having their phones system changes, and also that the phone companies don’t know in advance who uses an alarm service, and don’t make provision to make sure problems don’t arise.

He says one company has “belatedly” begun sharing this information with the borough council, after an approach from the authority: “But we have heard nothing from the other providers that are upgrading landlines across Swindon.”

Cllr Robbins says he understands that the tech companies signed a charter committing to ensuring vulnerable households are protected, after a meeting with ministers at the end of 2023, and concludes: “I urge you as part of your Ministerial portfolio to help facilitate and ensure phone providers fulfil their responsibility to proactively engage with local authorities on this issue

Swindon Borough Council has offered advice to users of community alarms system if they learn their phone system is to be changed:

- When your telephone provider contacts you, let them know you have a Homeline device to make sure this doesn’t get disconnected.

- Call 01793 464430 or 616427 to let the council know when your telephone provider is upgrading your landline service.

- Test your Homeline device once a month by pressing the button on your pendant. Don’t worry - it won’t automatically call 999. The council team will check if you’re ok first, and you just need to tell them you’re testing the device. The team expect these calls.