Technologies for Independent Living: Telecare and Telehealth

The Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014 created Integration Joint Boards with shared responsibility across NHS boards and local authorities for community health and social care. Housing is a key contributor to those outcomes, and telecare sits squarely within the scope of what integration is trying to achieve. In practice, this means Scottish landlords are increasingly expected to commission telecare in a way that connects to wider health and social care planning, rather than treating it as a standalone housing function. It also means there may be opportunities to jointly commission monitoring services or telehealth solutions with Integration Joint Boards, sharing costs and extending reach. PfH Scotland can advise on how to structure call-off arrangements to accommodate joint commissioning arrangements. 

The UK’s analogue telephone network is being replaced by digital infrastructure, and this has significant implications for telecare equipment that relies on analogue connectivity. Many older dispersed alarms, pendants, and warden call systems were designed for analogue networks and may not function reliably over digital lines without replacement or modification. Scottish landlords with legacy telecare stock need to assess which equipment is compatible with digital networks, plan a phased replacement programme, and ensure monitoring services can receive digital signals correctly. The framework’s equipment lots cover digital-compatible solutions, and the Lot 6 managed service includes design and migration support for organisations undertaking a full digital transition. The Telecare Services Association (TSA) has published guidance on the migration timeline that Scottish landlords should be working to. 

The Scottish Social Housing Charter doesn’t mandate specific telecare provision, but it does require landlords to support tenants to sustain tenancies and maintain wellbeing, particularly for older and disabled residents. For landlords with sheltered or very sheltered housing stock, telecare is typically a core component of the support offer, and its reliability directly affects Charter outcomes around safety and service quality. The Scottish Housing Regulator monitors how landlords perform against those outcomes, so a failure in telecare provision, whether through equipment faults, monitoring gaps, or a poor analogue-to-digital transition, can create regulatory risk. Commissioning through a properly evaluated framework, with documented service standards and performance monitoring, provides a stronger evidence base if the Regulator scrutinises your approach. 

Telecare and telehealth systems process health-related personal data, which is classified as special category data under UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. This means the bar for lawful processing is higher, and a Data Protection Impact Assessment is required before implementing or significantly changing any system that handles this data. For cloud-based telehealth platforms or monitoring services that transfer data to third parties, the legal basis for processing and the contractual data sharing arrangements need to be clearly documented. This is particularly important where telehealth data may be shared with NHS systems or clinical teams. PfH Scotland can advise on what to include in call-off documentation to ensure data protection requirements are properly captured in your supplier contract.

Scotland’s geography creates specific challenges for telecare and monitoring services. Response times in rural and island communities can be significantly longer than in urban areas, which means the monitoring and response model needs to be designed with that reality in mind. A standard response model built around urban response times may not be appropriate for a landlord with stock in Argyll, Caithness, or the Western Isles. When commissioning through this framework, landlords should specify their geographic coverage requirements clearly, including any properties on islands or in areas with limited mobile or broadband connectivity that could affect device reliability. The welfare and reassurance call services in Lot 3 can play a particularly important role in remote communities where physical check-ins are less frequent. PfH Scotland can help you think through geographic requirements when scoping your specification. 

Lots 1, 2, and 3 allow organisations to commission equipment, telehealth solutions, and monitoring services separately, which gives more flexibility but also more coordination responsibility. Lot 4 combines equipment and monitoring under one provider, and Lot 6 goes further by wrapping design, implementation, performance management, and continuous improvement into a single contract. The right approach depends largely on your internal capacity. Organisations with strong in-house technical teams and established monitoring arrangements may prefer the flexibility of separate lots. Those without that capacity, or those undertaking a significant technology transition, may find a managed service gives them better outcomes with less operational risk. PfH Scotland can help you assess which model fits your organisation before you access the framework. 

Under the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014, contracting authorities are required to consider how procurement activity can advance economic, social, and environmental wellbeing. The Scottish Government’s Fair Work First policy expects public contracts to reflect fair employment practices, including payment of the real Living Wage. Suppliers were assessed on their approach to social, community, and environmental benefit as part of the quality evaluation. When running mini-competitions, members can incorporate Fair Work First criteria and additional social value requirements into call-off tender documentation. PfH Scotland can advise on structuring these proportionately and in line with current Scottish Government guidance.