Careline is an effective way of getting help quickly and efficiently 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. A small Pendant is worn around the neck or on a wrist-strap. This is linked to a special unit - the Careline - which plugs into a power socket. It may also be connected using an ethernet cable if signal is poor in your area.
Careline FAQs
By pressing the pendant a signal is sent to the Careline base unit, which will then dial automatically to the Control Room, which allows help to be called quickly in the event of a fall, accident or even if you are feeling unwell. Your pre-programmed personal details will come up on a computer screen and a fully-trained call handler will be able to talk to you through the unit via a powerful speaker and listen to you through a sensitive microphone. If you are not close to your base unit or cannot respond, the call handler will immediately attempt to contact you via your telephone.
The call handler will then assess the situation and contact your Emergency Contacts and/or the Emergency Services if required.
Please note the Careline Service does not provide Home Responders.
If you want to sign up to the Careline service you can do this via the application form on the Careline web page, or call the Council's Customer Contact Team who can take you through the form over the phone. There is an administration set up fee of £51.00, PLUS £52 if you choose the Fall Detector.
Please see information on the main Careline webpage regarding the Falls Detector, view greater detail about it here, and have a conversation with the Careline Team before you select the Falls Detector.
The Falls Detector takes several days of consistent wear to acclimatise to the individual. Please note, the Falls Detector does not detect all falls and may not be suitable for every lifestyle.
You must live in the Stroud District.
A power socket for the Careline unit to plug into (you may need an ethernet port if 4G/5G signal is poor in your area). You can check signal here Mobile Coverage Checker by postcode for all UK networks with one search | Signalchecker.co.uk
You should ideally have two emergency contacts, one of whom is local, although you can have more emergency contacts than this.
There is a required 3 month commitment to the service.
It is advised to have an Emergency Contact who lives locally and could attend your property in case of an emergency. Suitable people might be a family member, friend or neighbour. You can also have contacts listed who may not live locally but whom you would want to be informed should you have an emergency situation.
Once we have all the details required through the application process, including a completed and signed Direct Debit form, we will set the Careline account up for you and a member of the Careline Team will be in touch regarding an installation appointment. This will not be on the same day as the phonecall regarding installation and depends on our Community Officer availability. At the installation appointment, a Community Officer will install and test the equipment, you will be shown how to use the alarm, and packaging will be taken away.
Careline unit and Pendant rental charges are £19.17 + VAT* per month. Annual rental is £230 + VAT* per year. This includes 24/7 monitoring and maintenance. If the Careline user has a long-term medical condition, and is entitled to VAT exemption, please complete a VAT exemption form and submit it to us.
Replacement or additional Pendants will cost £49 (VAT exempt) or £59 (nonVAT exempt)
Replacement or additional falls cost is £110 (VAT exempt) or £131 (nonVAT exempt)
Charges are paid monthly or annually by direct debit.
The standard push button Pendant should not be submerged in water but it can be worn in the shower.
The Falls Detector is water resistant and should always be worn.
No. The Pendant does not make any noise and you cannot talk through it.
The silver base unit is what makes noise. From the base unit the call handlers will speak to you, and you can speak back to them.
One.
One per resident. It is not advised for a single Careline user to have both a standard Pendant and a Falls Detector. There can be more than one Careline user per property.
For the standard Pendant there is a neck cord, a plastic watch strap or an elasticated wrist strap.
The Falls Detector is built into a plastic watch strap and no other setting is available.
No. The standard push button Pendant and Falls Detector are different sizes to one another, but no different sizes are available for either.
Yes, the elasticated ones or watch straps can be adjusted.
The Pendant should operate in and around the average property. However, please note the range of the device to the base unit does vary depending on interfering material e.g. thick stone walls may reduce the range. Our Careline service is in-home and is not designed to support outside use e.g. out shopping, visiting friends, going on a walk.
When a call is placed, it will go through to the monitoring centre where one of the call handlers will speak to you from your base unit and assess the situation for what help is required. The monitoring centre is based in Cornwall.
Current customers
We recommend you test your equipment once a month by pressing or activating your Pendant or Falls Detector and waiting for the monitoring centre to respond by speaking to you via your unit. Your base unit also has a call button which can be used in the event of a missing or damaged Pendant/Falls Detector. You can then communicate with them and let them know you are just testing.
The wearable Falls Detectors take CR 2032 batteries. You may require assistance to change the battery, please get in touch if you require a visit from a Community Officer to carry out the battery change.
The Standard Pendant has a built-in battery which should last several years.
You can pay by following the instructions on the invoice. Often customers will call to pay over the phone, or use the website to make a payment.
If your Careline is making noises you are not used to, or seems not to be working correctly, please press the button on your alarm or unit (like a test call) and inform the monitoring centre, or call the Council on 01453 766321or email Careline@stroud.gov.uk
If you provide a key safe code to us, the secure emergency monitoring centre would only give the code to emergency services or Emergency Contacts in the event of a fall or emergency.
It is important that your details are kept up to date. You can make changes to your details by contacting the Council on 01453 766321 or Careline@stroud.gov.uk You can also make changes by pressing your Pendant or the alarm button on your base unit and talking to the monitoring centre.
Emergency contact changes can only be requested by the Careline user themselves. Please contact the Council on 01453 766321, or email Careline@stroud.gov.uk with the information you want amending. We may call you to verify the changes. It may be the case that the Careline user requires someone else as the Power of Attorney to act on their behalf in their best interests. This person will need to provide evidence of Power of Attorney to make changes to Emergency Contacts.
Suitable evidence of Power of Attorney can be found on the GOV.uk website Lasting power of attorney: valid examples - GOV.UK
Please put the details into an email and send this to Careline@stroud.gov.uk
OR, press the button on your alarm or unit (like a test call) and inform the monitoring centre (including length of time you are due away from home). Remember to leave your pendant at home (in a memorable location e.g. next to the base unit) when leaving the property overnight.
If you have looked thoroughly and cannot find your Pendant, replacement or second standard Pendants are a one-off charge of £49 (VAT exempt) or £59 (nonVAT exempt)
Replacement Falls Detectors cost £110 (VAT exempt) or £131 (nonVAT exempt).
If you call the office-based team on 01453 766321 they can check to see if the Pendant is in the property, so is worth checking with the Careline Team BEFORE ordering a replacement Pendant.
You can notify us via telephone or by email, the Careline Team will be in touch regarding return of the Careline equipment. You will be charged to the end of the month in which the equipment is returned.
If Emergency Contacts have a voicemail, they should have received a voicemail from the monitoring centre. The Call Handler may have moved to contacting the emergency services if no Emergency Contacts can be contacted and the circumstances of the alarm require emergency services to attend the property.
Don't worry if there is a power cut because there is a battery in the base unit that will keep the alarm equipment working for several days. Once the power is up and running again, we advise you test the unit and speak to the monitoring centre to check that the unit is working properly.
The Careline units are primarily SIM-based devices, so they do not rely on the property’s broadband connection, unless they have been installed or switched over to an Ethernet connection.
An Ethernet connection will not have any noticeable impact on the property’s broadband. Careline units use extremely small amounts of data, so their effect on overall broadband performance is small. Talk Talk and Sky have firewalls which may cause a potential problem – if either of these is your provider, you would need to talk to your provider about this.