Council leaders have welcomed proposals to merge Tendring Careline with Colchester’s Helpline service to create a combined 24/7 telecare, response and lifting service for North East Essex residents.  

Tendring District Council (TDC) launched its popular Careline service 40 years ago to support older and other vulnerable residents at home with assistive technology like fall bracelets and providing fast response and assistance to residents in the event of a fall.

But in recent years, the once-unique Council-run service has faced growing competition in the market from private companies offering similar services.

The future of Careline has been the subject of a year-long review that was followed, last summer, by consultation with customers, residents and other interested parties on different ideas and options. The options included ceasing the service altogether and assisting customers in finding alternative providers.

In November, the council’s Cabinet postponed making a final decision on the future of Careline by three months to allow more time to consider the consultation responses and look again at different options, including proposals from Colchester City Council and its Helpline service and other third parties for potentially taking on the Careline service.

A report now recommends working with Colchester City Council and transferring Careline service users and staff to the Helpline service, provided through its arms-length company Amphora which will then expand to serve residents across the entire North East Essex area.

Councillor Gina Placey, TDC’s Cabinet Member for Partnerships, said: “I’m pleased to recommend to my Cabinet colleagues that we support Colchester City Council’s proposal for a combined and expanded telecare, response, and lifting service for North East Essex.

“Careline has been a major success for TDC, providing an essential service for almost 40 years and the response to last year’s consultation told us that residents would prefer to see the service continue into the future.

“However, with significant changes in the telecare industry, growing competition from private providers and the challenges of maintaining a high quality service that offers good value for money to service-users and Tendring tax-payers, we needed to look seriously at different options.

“I’m happy to make this recommendation to merge services with our neighbours in Colchester.

“It is a positive response to the consultation feedback and will ensure no practical disruption to the service with no changes to our customers’ existing terms and conditions.

“I would like to thank our hardworking staff and Careline customers for their patience during this process and I look forward to the Council working with Colchester Helpline to achieve a smooth transition to the expanded service.”

The report highlights that an expanded Colchester Helpline service is best placed to offer a long-term solution that aligns with the aims of the North East Essex Health and Wellbeing Alliance, of which TDC is a partner.

It also aligns with possible proposals for local government reorganisation which by 2028 could see Tendring, Colchester and other councils across Essex merge together to form larger unitary authorities.

The Cabinet’s support would be contingent on Colchester Helpline guaranteeing service coverage across Tendring, maintaining fast response times, and transferring existing staff to the expanded service under their existing terms of conditions.

The decision will pave the way for a detailed transition plan, which will also see TDC’s Out-of-Hours, CCTV services, and monitoring for the council’s sheltered housing schemes transferred to Colchester Helpline.

If approved, the merging of the Colchester and Tendring services will take place within the 2025/6 financial year and the current Careline service will remain active 24/7 throughout any transition period.

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