Ealing Council has held firm on its decision to end its careline services which will affect thousands of its most vulnerable residents.

Sheltered housing groups say that up to 3,000 people have seen their careline plans change while some have chosen to end having service altogether.

Careline is a service that is designed to help vulnerable people have 24/7 access to support and emergency services.

This can be in the form of toggles, pull cords, alarm buttons and phones in sheltered housing and care homes.

A trade union which employed the Careline staff answered 124,000 alarm calls over the last year.

In a full council meeting characterised by problems and protests, Councillor Josh Blacker, Cabinet Member for Health Lives, stood to answer questions from concerned petitioners.

Roy Willis, Chair of Ealing Reclaim Social Care Action Group, asked him: "What reassurance can the Council give that all 3,000 subscribers to Ealing Careline (now closed) have an equivalent emergency Telecare service in place?"

Cllr Blacker said that the council had taken steps which "carefully managed" the end of its careline services "to ensure minimal disruption" after they closed on 1 April.

Residents from Walnut Court in Ealing who relied on careline services from the council (credit: Rory Bennett).

He continued that the transition has been made in many cases to Harrow Careline which he said was more robust and a "better service."

While the transition was automatic for those with social care or NHS referrals (likely to cover care homes) this would not be the same for those in sheltered housing.

He said that those who were concerned would be referred to the social care team and would receive telephone monitoring from Harrow Careline if required.

Back in March, those people in sheltered housing were informed by the council that if they wanted to continue having careline support they would have to find their own providers such as from Age UK.

It was a move that has faced potent criticism and concern from a number of sheltered housing blocks including Walnut Court.

Residents claimed to the Local Democracy Reporting Services (LDRS) in March that the service had saved lives and ending it in the fashion that the council outlined would 'kill people'.

However, Cllr Blacker expressed his belief that the replacement service would be sufficient.

As part of his response, Cllr Blacker admitted that the majority of people who used Careline privately had decided to end their subscriptions after the change but insisted they too could apply to be assessed to see if they could gain access to Harrow Careline.

Careline pull cord and phone box (credit: Rory Bennett).

Alex Cowan, Chair of Direct Payment User Group, followed up with a question for the council about the implementation of the replacement service.

She asked Cllr Blacker: "When will a responder service be set up and running for Ealing residents because at present there is no responder service using Harrow Careline or any other Careline provider?"

The councillor said that there was an interim service in place that was already providing Care Quality Commission-certified assistants who have already responded to three alerts.

This was not enough to satisfy Mr Willis who followed up by asking if the council would 'rethink' the current changes.

Cllr Blacker said it was simply too late to reverse changes. After consultations with councillors, sheltered housing residents say that little progress has been made.

Walnut Court will host a public meeting on careline on 24 April as vulnerable residents across the borough continue to fight changes to their 'vital' services.

Opposition Liberal Democrat Councillor Andrew Steed, Spokesperson for Caring Services, said: "The Labour-run Ealing Council have brought the changes in quickly and with no consultation, meaning that many users have felt uneasy about the changes.

"When I pressed the Council for details in the public meeting, sadly they have not responded with a clear answer. This will not reassure users."

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