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Residents are struggling to adapt as electronically controlled care takes over from onsite wardens

In July last year, 70-year-old Derby sheltered housing resident Anona Thorpe fell in her sitting room. She is believed to have been there for several days before she was spotted unconscious behind the sofa by neighbours. She died of hypothermia the day after her arrival in hospital.

The onsite warden at Miss Thorpe’s home had been removed months earlier, following a cost-cutting shake-up of housing support that saw the pensioner’s visits slashed from daily to monthly.

Miss Thorpe, described as fiercely independent, had reportedly backed the change. She was also not wearing her emergency pendant when she fell. Last month Derby Homes was criticised by the coroner for not telling Miss Thorpe’s relatives about her reduction in care.

But fellow Derby sheltered housing tenant John Newbold argued that his landlord was not to blame. ‘This lady was a very independent lass,’ he recalled. ‘She wanted a quality of life without interference. I’m in the same position. I said to the support worker: “I don’t want you to come around every day. Once a month will do me.” Many of [the tenants] have said: “We don’t want [the daily visit], we want to save the money.”’

Live-in wardens are being ditched up and down Britain as a widespread response to dwindling Supporting People budgets.

Derby Homes is under pressure from its cash-strapped parent council to scale down the number of older people receiving support visits from more than 1,600 to 970.

Telecare devices, such as emergency pendants and pull cords, are being relied upon in their absence.

Derby Homes chief executive Phil Davies said there were major challenges involved in getting older people to adapt to these technological gadgets.

Elsewhere in Britain, pockets of resident protest have been flaring up in an attempt to stop wardens being removed. Some residents have tried to co-ordinate the protests into a national movement, but this has proved difficult. One thing is clear: electronically controlled care is taking over sheltered housing everywhere and few seem able to stand in its way.

In Devon, where resident wardens will be phased out completely over the next three years, the limitations of telecare have been sorely felt.

Anne Jepson, a self-employed carer, said residents in the Totnes sheltered housing block she visits have been despairing for years about the lack of support available to them after 5pm. Her complaints have struck a chord with the county’s Supporting People manager Max Sillars, who is critical of the limited response provided through emergency pendants.

‘An ambulance is called, even if it’s not needed. That happens very frequently in sheltered housing,’ he said. ‘If somebody has had a fall and they know they’re not seriously injured, very often an ambulance comes out because there are no other services.

‘Very often the service user refuses the ambulance be activated, because that age group is often conscious of public resources. And very often, they will lie on the floor all night until the warden is back on duty. ‘

Since May, Mr Sillars’ team has been piloting three ‘mobile response teams’ to fill the support gap. Residents who alert it are asked if they need an ambulance. If they don’t, they are offered a visit from the team to help with non-emergencies.

Ms Jepson said the mobile worker was a breath of fresh air, but that she knew ‘what he’d be up against’.

‘Considering it’s a bit of a challenge to cover one building with 66 flats properly, it’s hard to see how they’ll manage with just one or two people in each locality. If somebody has a wasp in their flat and somebody else is suffering from a heart problem, how can they be in two places at once?’

Sheltered housing tenants are also struggling to adjust to warden-free life north of the border. In North Ayrshire councillors have saved £230,000 by scrapping sheltered housing wardens and replacing them with 18 roaming ‘care at home’ assistants.

The change has been unsettling for residents like Richard Davidson. The 69-year-old lives in council-run sheltered housing near Irvine. ‘Wardens knew everybody and knew who was well and who wasn’t well,’ he recalled. ‘But now, it’s not their fault, they just don’t have the time to spend any more getting to know people. They’ll come around once a day and knock on everyone’s door. If there’s no response, they’ll go to the next door.’

Sheila Coles, advice team leader at the Elderly Accommodation Counsel and the former manager of a warden service, described what happened in Derby as ‘every sheltered housing manager’s nightmare’.

She said: ‘There’s no doubt that a daily doorstep visit can really keep on top of things, but not everybody wants that. People have the right to make choices.’