Charging for alarm system sparks fears for the elderly

PENSIONERS' lives will be at risk once an alarm system - which calls the emergency services for OAPs who need urgent help at home - becomes fee-paying, it has been claimed.

More than 1,300 elderly people have been asked to pay about £3 a week for the "lifeline" service - a price which would force many to give up the crucial piece of equipment, campaigners for the elderly have warned.

They said that people who fell or had severe medical complaints would suffer if the system, usually an alarm button carried everywhere by the pensioner, was taken away.

Age Concern's Pat Simmonds said: "You are talking about more than £150 a year - for people on a limited budget that is a lot of money.

"It is for theirs, and their relatives' peace of mind, to know they can get in touch and get help straight away. It really could mean a matter of life and death."

Kidderminster 83-year-old, Philip Lane, said "I wouldn't know where I would be" without the lifeline, provided by Wyre Forest Community Housing, as he had used it four times to get to hospital for emergency treatment.

Mr Lane, who suffers from a heart condition and complications from an operation for an aneurysm, said: "Most, if not all, of the lifeline holders are old people living alone with health conditions that warrant the service."

He said he would try to meet the costs but added it "doesn't seem right to me that the most under-privileged section of the community are going to be hit".

The charge will be imposed from next April when funding from Wyre Forest District Council - agreed when community housing took over the council's housing stock in 2000 - runs out.

It will apply to owner-occupiers, not tenants.

A community housing spokeswoman said the service - which involves pressing a button to alert a monitoring centre - had to be "cost-effective" but council leader, Howard Martin, said officers and elected members had not been told of the plan to charge - a complaint echoed by Age Concern.

Mr Martin said: "We are absolutely horrified. Without consultation, we have been told that pensioners will have to pay £3 a week. This is a lot of money to the vulnerable people who have this facility. It is their health and safety which is being put at risk."

He said councillors and Wyre Forest MP, Dr Richard Taylor, had been contacted by anxious residents who, in the past week, have received a letter outlining the new fee.

A spokeswoman for community housing said voluntary organisation, DIAL (Disablement Information and Advice Line), and the Pension Service would carry out checks to make sure homeowners were receiving all benefits they were entitled to, to help them pay for the service.

She added that so far most people responding to the fee-paying plans were willing to pay for the service.

"Very few are coming back sayign this is outrageous and disgraceful."