Unreliable smoke-alarm interlinking and status information for vulnerable people
First to latest report 24 Jan 2014 — 4 Oct 2022
Reports that mention this concern
4
Times this concern has been raised
6
Stated actions linked to this concern
7
What this concern includes
Includes failures of controls specifically dedicated to interlinking smoke alarms with telecare or other alarm-response systems, and to accurately recording, displaying or communicating whether that interlink is present and operational for vulnerable people.
What is not included
Excludes absence, incorrect installation, testing or maintenance of smoke alarms where no interlinking or interlink-status failure is identified.
Excludes generic fire-safety assessments, advice or emergency-response deficiencies not specifically concerning smoke-alarm interlinking or its status information.
Excludes telecare failures unrelated to receiving, identifying or responding to an interlinked smoke-alarm signal.
Excludes smoke or fire hazards in boats, workplaces or other settings unless the reported deficiency concerns the same smoke-alarm interlinking and status-information control.
Trends
Reports over time
Reports mentioning this concern, over time
Reports about this concern issued each year.
* 2026 is projected from reports observed to 7 Sep 2026.
Most frequent recipients
Most frequent recipients
Reports about this concern sent to each recipient.
Barnet Assist1
Care Quality Commission1
Chartered Trading Standards Institute1
Conwy County Borough Council1
Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy1
Department of Health and Social Care1
Home Office1
Hotpoint UK Appliances Limited1
London Borough of Brent1
London Borough of Wandsworth1
London Telecare Limited1
Office for Product Safety and Standards1
Sovereign Network Homes1
The Community Equipment Code of Practice Scheme C.I.C.1
TSA – The Voice of Technology Enabled Care1
London borough council2
Ministerial department2
Private limited company2
Professional membership body2
Community interest company1
Health and social care service regulator1
Local authority service1
Product safety regulator1
Registered provider of social housing1
Welsh county borough council1
Reports and published responses 4 reports
See individual reports that have raised this concern, and the actions taken in response
Inner North London
Concerns raised1
Smoke alarms not connected to telecare systems
This report raised 4 other concerns. They are not shown here because they do not form part of this recurring concern.
Linked responses
Care Quality Commission
Department of Health and Social Care
Home Office
TEC Services Association C.I.C.
Stated actions An action is something a respondent says it has done, is doing, or plans to do in response to the concern raised.4
Home Office
Encourage dissemination of the report’s findings and continued highlighting of telecare links to smoke alarms during fire safety checks.
Department of Health and Social Care
Publish the “What Good Looks Like” framework, including guidance for local authorities on considering technology-enabled care and linked preventative devices.
TEC Services Association C.I.C.
Develop the British Standard for technology-enabled care assessment, risk, design, installation and maintenance through BSI committee work.
TEC Services Association C.I.C.
Implement the completed British Standard’s requirements within the Quality Standards Framework and audit certified installation companies against them.
Respondent positions A position is what a respondent says about the concern when they do not describe a specific action.5
Home Office
The Fire Safety Order does not apply to individual homes, and fire and rescue services lack statutory powers to enforce telecare system changes.
Outside remitThe respondent said that this matter was outside its role or authority.
Home Office
Telecare installation, maintenance and linking to smoke alarms must be undertaken by telecare engineers, not fire and rescue services.
Redirects responsibilityThe respondent said that another organisation was responsible for deciding or taking action.
Home Office
Local agencies are best placed to determine vulnerable people's required care packages and telecare equipment.
Redirects responsibilityThe respondent said that another organisation was responsible for deciding or taking action.
Care Quality Commission
Telecare and fire-service matters fall outside regulation, leaving no powers to prevent future deaths concerning those services.
Outside remitThe respondent said that this matter was outside its role or authority.
TEC Services Association C.I.C.
The investigation found no evidence that involved TEC services were specifically at fault, while identifying disjointed agency working as significant.
Disputes the concernThe respondent disagreed with part of the concern or the basis for it.
North London
Concerns raised1
Failure to link telecare to smoke alarms or AFSS
This report raised 10 other concerns. They are not shown here because they do not form part of this recurring concern.
Linked response
Sovereign Network Homes
Respondent positions A position is what a respondent says about the concern when they do not describe a specific action.1
Sovereign Network Homes
Matters of Concern 2, 3 and 4 are not issues for the landlord to address.
Outside remitThe respondent said that this matter was outside its role or authority.
Inner West London
Concerns raised3
Failure to visibly flag unlinked fire alarms in client records
Unlinked household fire alarms in telecare users' homes
Failure to identify and replace unlinked fire alarms in a timely and auditable manner
This report raised 10 other concerns. They are not shown here because they do not form part of this recurring concern.
No linked response statements
No respondent-stated action or position is linked to these concerns in the published data.
North Central & North East Wales
Concerns raised1
Lack of standard interlink connection for smoke alarms on the Conwy County Telecare package
This report raised 4 other concerns. They are not shown here because they do not form part of this recurring concern.
Linked response
Conwy County Borough Council
Stated actions An action is something a respondent says it has done, is doing, or plans to do in response to the concern raised.3
Conwy County Borough Council
Review current Council and Fire Service practice for providing linked smoke detectors with Telecare.
Conwy County Borough Council
Establish a six-month full-time Council post to accelerate installation of linked smoke detectors for Telecare clients.
Conwy County Borough Council
Install linked smoke detectors for Telecare clients identified as lacking them, using the accelerated installation programme.
Actions and positions describe what organisations say in published responses. Implementation is not independently verified.
Actions and positions describe what organisations say in published responses. Implementation is not independently verified.