Lambeth Community Alarm Services and Emergencies

The emergency alarm system in every sheltered tenant's property and common area gives a direct voice link to the sheltered housing officer (SHO). When the SHO is off duty, the emergency call goes straight through to Careline - the Lambeth community alarm service. The officers from Careline are trained to deal with your call. In the absence of the SHO if your emergency needs a visit, the Careline staff will visit the sheltered scheme and deal with the problem directly.

The alarm system is for emergencies only, not for general enquiries that can wait for the return of the SHO.

Entering your property

Under normal circumstances, nobody can enter your property without your permission. But sometimes (a serious fall or illness for instance), it may be necessary to enter the tenant's property to help them. A spare set of every tenant's keys are kept locked in a safe in the SHO's office for emergencies. The Careline officers also have access to this safe.

Sheltered tenants are asked not to put extra locks and bolts on their front doors without talking to the SHO first. If there are extra locks, and no key is given to the SHO, it could waste vital time if they have to try and force entry.

Regular checks to emergency systems

SHOs regularly check the emergency alarm system and the smoke alarms linked to it for faults. Of course, we expect tenants to let the SHO in for this check.