Councils deploy sensors to help vulnerable residents

Sutton and Richmond councils are trialling in-home sensors to improve the safety of vulnerable residents living in social housing.

The London boroughs are part of the InnOvaTe project, together with IoT Solutions Group, and are piloting 200 in-home sensors across Sutton Housing Partnership (SHP) and Richmond Housing Partnership (RHP) properties.

This new technology delivers automated, real-time insight about how active an individual is in their own home.

If there is a drop in activity levels, automated alerts notify carers or independent living officers, allowing them to respond urgently, rather than waiting for the next visit or relying on the resident to make contact.

In addition to these warnings of potential illness or accident, the sensors can help identify fuel poverty risk, providing the opportunity to prevent further issues before they arise.

No visual or audio recording takes place and no personal data is collected, ensuring total privacy for the resident in their home.

‘We are excited to be working with Sutton and Richmond councils to enhance their social care provision,’ said Emma Mahy, chief executive of IoT Solutions Group.

‘We know how much pressure social care services are under at this time and how concerned relatives are about the well-being of family members they aren’t able to visit. We know that this solution helps provide early response to service users who require additional support – thus improving the opportunity for independent living whilst providing enhanced levels of comfort to family members.

‘This pilot is just the beginning and we look forward to expanding the roll-out to support independent living for residents and local authorities nationwide.’

Sutton Council’s lead member for finance and resources, Cllr Sunita Gordon added: ‘We are committed to explore new ways in which we can harness technology to improve the care services delivered within Sutton, while also saving taxpayers’ money.

‘We have taken learnings from the previous lockdown and we are excited to work closely with IoT Solutions Group and Sutton Housing Partnership to support the way in which we manage our social care teams, the services that they commission from care homes and providers who give care in residents’ own homes.’