Independent UK care editorial Evidence · leadership · action
See the change. Examine the evidence.
Understand what it means for care.
The Digital Switchover Reset
Keep the evidence, its date and its limits beside the decision.
Our reporting draws on official documents and documented provider experiences. It does not claim new interviews, site audits or engineering tests conducted by Care Circle. Case studies of Clarion, Hyde and Monmouthshire come from published government guidance.
The programme period begins on 1 November 2026. These pages were first published on 11 November, with that date shown separately. We retain original dates on earlier investigations.
DHSC’s grouped-living alarm estimate comes from sampled alarm receiving centres. It is not a percentage of care homes. Housing LIN and Appello’s commercially co-produced survey concerns its housing-sector respondents, not a national care-provider census.
The DHSC commissioning documents are non-statutory. Ofcom’s emergency voice backup framework has a different purpose from care-system resilience. CQC Regulations 12 and 17 concern underlying safety and governance duties where applicable, rather than a new PSTN certificate. England-specific guidance should not be applied to other nations without checking the relevant authorities.
We have not established a national percentage of care homes using PSTN-dependent systems, regional installation lead times, or the completion of BT changes due at the end of November. We will identify uncertainty when the evidence does not support a conclusion.
A substantive new feature needs material new evidence or a verified provider experience. A clarification belongs in a dated update to the relevant coverage. Original publication dates are retained and material corrections explained.
Ask us to correct or clarify a claim →Evidence and interpretation
Network statements have their own scope. DHSC and CQC interpretation concerns England; confirm the relevant national regulator and local arrangements elsewhere in the UK. Published case studies are attributed desk research, not Care Circle site audits.
Evidence reviewed 11 November 2026
Source dates describe the developments. The explanations below were first published on 11 November. We update this record when meaningful evidence changes the decision.
What changed: DHSC published three digital telecare commissioning guidelines covering personal alarms, grouped living devices and receiving centres.
Who is affected: Commissioners, housing providers and services buying or reviewing telecare.
What to do differently: Use the document for your actual system type. These are non-statutory guidelines; a product claim still needs local acceptance evidence.
Follow the provider explanation →Read the original source ↗What changed: Openreach confirmed the 31 January closure and set out temporary emergency voice and eligible broadband safeguards.
Who is affected: Services with remaining PSTN-dependent lines, including some business connections.
What to do differently: Confirm your provider’s migration plan. EVAc cannot be reserved and does not establish telecare compatibility.
Follow the provider explanation →Read the original source ↗What changed: Ofcom secured BT process improvements. Its statement said final changes were expected by the end of November.
Who is affected: Telecare users and organisations coordinating relevant BT migrations.
What to do differently: Confirm local checks and fault escalation. This was not a finding of breach; completion of the final measures remains a later verification question.
Follow the provider explanation →Read the original source ↗