The accreditation recognises Link Group’s successful transition from analogue to digital telecare - achieved with the support of Link partners Bield Response 24, Tritec, and Telealarm - and comprises five individual awards marking key milestones in the process.

Sarah Smith, executive director of communities at Link Group, said: “Receiving all five awards under the Digital Telecare Implementation Award Scheme is a fantastic achievement for Link Group and reflects our strong commitment to improving services for our customers and supporting older people to live more independent lives.

“I would like to congratulate our Retirement Plus team on this well‑deserved recognition. Their hard work and dedication to finding safer, more efficient solutions has been central to the success of this project.”

Sharon Hannah, housing project manager at Digital Telecare, has been on the digital journey with Link Group from trial sites to full migration.

She added: “I am delighted by the strong focus and importance placed on end‑to‑end digital migration planning. This recognition is thoroughly well-deserved and reflects a truly collective effort from a dedicated team at Link and beyond.

“A particularly impressive achievement was the commitment to keeping disruption to an absolute minimum, while delivering a solution that significantly enhances safety and security for residents. The positive feedback from residents, alongside the absence of faults, is a clear testament to the rigour, care, and exceptionally thorough planning that underpinned this work. Well done to everyone involved.”  

The first of the five awards considers Governance and recognises the robust and transparent practices that underpinned the digital transformation, including clear decision‑making and effective communication throughout the project.

Link Group’s focus on service user involvement, proactive staff training and collaborative working with partner organisations was recognised through the Strategy and Planning award, highlighting a strong commitment to continuous improvement.

The Retirement Plus team also received the Test and Implementation award for their thorough approach to identifying integrated devices, vetting contractors and cleansing data to ensure a smooth transition.

An Operational award followed, acknowledging the changes made to processes to improve efficiency and enhance customer experience. This included keeping the existing warden call system in place during the initial trial period to reassure residents, alongside clear guidance and support on using the new digital system.

Following a successful trial and positive feedback from residents and stakeholders, Link Group completed the rollout of digital alarm units across all Link Retirement Plus developments, meeting the criteria for the Digitally Migrated award.

Since installation, the digital units have achieved 100 per cent uptime, demonstrating the reliability and resilience of the new system.