By joining forces new opportunities are being created to expand the market for digital healthcare solutions in Finland and strengthen the presence in Sweden. The strong alignment between the Legrand Care Enovation platform and Axel Health’s portfolios also creates value across their existing target markets in Europe. By combining expertise and technology, we can accelerate innovation to increase patient engagement, optimise healthcare operations, and improve collaboration between care professionals. Providers in health and social care will benefit from access to a broader, seamlessly integrated platform that supports patient flow management and care transfers.

Ilari Laaksonen, CEO Axel Health: “Joining Legrand Care creates exciting opportunities for our customers, employees and partners. With Legrand Care we’ve found a partner that matches our fun-loving and extremely customer-centric culture. Together we can accelerate the development of innovative solutions that strengthen patient engagement and patient flow management. We are proud to become part of a large international organisation while continuing to support our customers with the same commitment and expertise.”

Chris Dodd, CEO Legrand Care: “This acquisition is a natural next step in our growth strategy across the Nordics. Axel Health has built a strong reputation in patient flow management and its solutions complement our digital care platform exceptionally well. We share a common vision of using technology to create a sustainable healthcare system. Together, we can deliver even greater value to health and social care providers by offering a broader portfolio of integrated solutions that help improve efficiency, collaboration and the patient experience.”

Chris Dodd, CEO of Legrand Care, adds: “this new chapter marks a sensational next step for Legrand Care to further help improve lives. We believe that a combination of Legrand Care with Enovation is a key milestone and mutually beneficial. The wider business of Enovation will provide Legrand Care with a new long-term growth engine.”

Jeroen van Rijswijk, CEO of Enovation, comments on the combination with Legrand Care: “The past six years, Enovation was able to substantially improve its international profile and market position. This new chapter marks a wonderful next step for Enovation and we are excited to join Legrand Care and serve our clients even better, as we now have access to a lot of new expertise as well as great international execution power.”
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* Subject to standard conditions precedent.

Caroline Mouminoux, Sales Director of Legrand Care and Silver Economy manager in France, formerly Silver Economy representative for Legrand France and Director of Intervox, declares that they are “very proud of this announcement” and that, with the launch of this new brand, “Legrand confirms once again that assisted Living and healthcare is a strategic market for the Legrand group, and we see this as a great opportunity to address some of the social and economic challenges this sector faces”.

This alliance reinforces Legrand's strong commitment to “the connected care market and the silver economy and opens the doors to accelerate developments and innovation”, Íñigo Ruiz Cossío, Director of Product and Marketing of Legrand Care says. Thanks to the creation of Legrand Care, more than 40 years of knowledge and experience of the members of this division are put into joint value “under a common strategic vision, with a coherent image in the market, the five brands will cease to operate as segmented entities and will concentrate their strengths to position Legrand as the leader in connected care worldwide”, Ruiz highlights.

In this sense, Mouminoux affirms that "this new Legrand Care division is excellent news for all our customers, partners and stakeholders in the health and social care sector and will give us even more capacity for innovation, to anticipate technological challenges and will allow us to confirm that we are a key player in this market".

All the members of this division feel very motivated by this alliance and share the deep conviction that our shared resources, solutions, interests, and vocation will make them stronger and will allow them to work together in the development of “proactive and preventative agendas, always placing people at the heart of our services. We will be more innovative because we will concentrate our efforts into achieving our shared objectives”, Ruiz remarks.

Dodd assures that all members of this new brand firmly believe that "this strategic union will facilitate the fulfilment of the mission and vision of this entity":

• Mission: A tireless commitment to truly understand customer needs, enabling innovative digitally connected care solutions to be delivered. To be the technological partner of clients, offering comprehensive and fully managed solutions that allow them to efficiently deploy improved care services.
• Vision: To empower and help people live the healthiest and most fulfilling lives they want in the place of their choice.

“Together we will be better able to channel our combined resources into new product development and will continue to remain nimble and be proactive to the changing needs of our customers with the strength, resources and quality controls of Legrand, the global specialist in electrical and digital infrastructures in support”. Dodd concludes.

This project to supply nurse call to all 11 wards in the Dragon's Heart field hospital in Cardiff. Required over 400 Call Points and 11 Touchsafe Pro Panels and came with a quick turnaround of only 4 days between the initial enquiry and full onsite commission.

As always, all our dedicated teams from our factory based in Blyth, Northumberland rose without question to the challenge and were able to assemble all required equipment the very same day. Enabling the shipment to be driven through the night to the 11 strong engineering team who were primed to begin installation onsite at the Principality Stadium the next day and would continue over a 3 day period to ensure the installation completed on time.

Aid Call have already supported many hospitals on a wide range emergency systems projects, as well as the Nightingale field hospital in Liverpool and now with the full site installation at the Dragon's Heart field hospital Cardiff. This only highlights the exceptional flexibility of our teams at all levels throughout the business and cements our ability to react quickly and efficiently to the needs of our customer base at this very difficult time.

• In Spain, the assisted living team retained essential manufacturing capabilities in order to ensure that independent living solutions were able to be deployed across Spain and to the wider European market.
• In the United States, a cable management solution was developed within 4 days to supply power to 2000 beds in field hospitals in the state of New York. In the state of Indiana, a production line for display screens has been converted to the manufacture of cloth masks.
• In France, the logistics platform at Verneuil-en-Halatte mobilised its resources to enable delivery within 24 hours of components to a customer producing medical respirators.
• In India, a university hospital in Kolkata, was converted into a specialised centre dedicated to the treatment of Coronavirus patients and was equipped with the Group’s UPS (uninterruptible power supplies) to ensure continuity of energy distribution.
• In Italy, emergency solutions (especially bedhead units, nurse call devices and VDI cabling systems) were provided for temporary hospitals set up in Milan and Bergamo.
• In the Netherlands, a videoconferencing system was donated to a retirement home in Eindhoven, to facilitate maintaining links between residents and their relatives.

These projects and initiatives will be amplified even further in the weeks and months ahead.

The Legrand Group is also committed to supporting vulnerable and elderly people at this difficult time and recently announced the creation of a solidarity fund dedicated to care and nursing for the elderly. This fund is intended to provide support to staff in specialised facilities such as care and nursing homes.

The fund will offer its support to the largest possible number of institutions and care staff, Legrand will work with its Foundation, created in 2014 with the purpose, in particular, of acting against the exclusion of vulnerable persons and those experiencing loss of autonomy. Staff in such care facilities, who are under considerable pressure in the context of the COVID-19 crisis, will be helped, for example, to finance hotel accommodation close to their place of work so as to avoid long-distance commuting, thereby protecting both their own families and nursing home residents.

This way, Legrand wishes to act tangibly to improve the living conditions and comfort of healthcare staff in nursing homes for elderly people who are in the frontline day after day fighting the pandemic. The fund is open to contributions from both businesses and individuals wishing to join this solidarity initiative.

Benoît Coquart, Legrand Chief Executive Officer, stated: “Faced with this unprecedented health crisis, many solidarity gestures have been deployed by our employees all over the world in aid of the most fragile and the most exposed. The setting-up of this solidarity fund is a perfect example, which aims to support nursing home staff who more than ever need our solidarity. I would like to warmly thank all of our employees for the commitment and solidarity they have shown ever since the crisis began.”

Existing Installation Orders:

Given the current guidelines, we are temporarily pausing all-new Aid Call Installation activity until such time as the Government guidelines change. As such any existing order which has been received will be pushed back by a minimum of 4 weeks however this is being monitored daily. When the guidelines change our project team will be in contact to re-arrange an appropriate start date and any potential changes to RAM's in keeping with the guidelines at that point.

New Installation Orders:

If you wish to place a new installation order during this period we would be delighted to process the order however no installation lead time may be given until such time as the Government restrictions on movement are updated, after which we hope to return to our standard 6 to 8 weeks soon after that point. While we are in a position to keep our manufacturing facilities open we will continue to build project-specific equipment including yours so as to improve our response when allowed.

If you believe your install is urgent and essential for the fight against Covid 19 then please contact your Business Development Manager directly and we will discuss how best this can be prioritised. Alternatively, we are currently supplying pre-programmed Emergency systems that can be shipped and deployed immediately with no engineering requirement, again please contact your BDM for information.

At this difficult time, our aim is to offer an uninterrupted response service for those in both the health and social care sector. Clearly the landscape continues to change, and we, therefore, appreciate your patience in such a challenging time. We continue to listen to our customers and will look to adapt as best we can to ensure we retain the highest levels of support possible.

Please keep safe and we wish you all the best.

Chris Dodd
Managing Director
Legrand Assisted Living & Healthcare

Customer Meetings

Until we are notified otherwise by the UK Government our Business Development Managers will be happy to visit you at your premises whilst taking all necessary precautions, following Government guidelines and maintaining appropriate social distancing.

If you prefer, all our team are fully equipped to conduct meetings online or by telephone. All contact details for our regional Business Development Managers can be found by clicking on one of the following links;

Tynetec - https://www.tynetec.co.uk/contact-us/

Aid Call - https://www.aidcall.co.uk/contact-us/

Jontek - https://www.jontek.co.uk/contact-us/

Service, Maintenance & Installation

If you experience a problem with your system, please contact our service desk who will be more than willing to help. In most cases, our engineers will be able to remotely diagnose the issue and provide a quick resolution without the need to visit the site.

Where a site visit is required for service, maintenance or installation, and prior to an engineer attending, we will undertake a risk assessment and as part of this customers will be expected to  confirm via email that no reported cases of Covid-19 have been identified on site.

At this difficult time, our aim is to offer an uninterrupted service for those in both the health and social care sector. Clearly the landscape continues to change, and we therefore appreciate your patience in such a challenging time.

We continue to listen to our customers and will look to adapt as best we can to ensure we retain the highest levels of support that we can.

Sales Enquiries

For sales and order enquiries please continue to contact our internal sales team via email or telephone.

Email - sales@tynetec.co.uk
Email - sales@aidcall.co.uk

Tel - 01670 352371 and press option 1

Technical Support Enquiries

Should you have a technical enquiry regarding any of our products or systems please contact one of our technical support teams via email or telephone;

Aid Call / Tynetec

Email - techsupportal.uk@legrand.co.uk

Tel - 01670 352371 and press option 3

Jontek

Email - techsupp@jontek.co.uk

Tel - 0161 741 7200

Chris Dodd

Managing Director

Legrand Assisted Living & Healthcare

The report calls for Board members to adapt the digital strategic direction of their organisations, working in collaboration with diverse partners from across sectors to form new alliances. Unleashing the Digital Premium refers to the potential that digital technology has to deliver these improved outcomes through more cost effective, efficient and reliable services, and by supporting greater independence for individuals and their families.

The Digital Premium is a fundamental enabler of national policy across the NHS and Local Government, including greater prevention of ill health, offering more flexibility in the delivery of services, and supporting individuals to live independently for longer. The report identifies barriers and opportunities facing Board members in order to make the digital premium a reality, including;

• a sufficient focus on improving outcomes for communities
• the collection of data and how it is shared with partners
• access to relevant expertise
• diverse stakeholder engagement in developing and delivering digital strategy

The Unleashing the Digital Premium report is being launched at the House of Lords on Tuesday 25th February 2020. GGI and Legrand Assisted Living and Healthcare are seeking further views and perspectives in response to the report and will be hosting future events to continue discussion on this important topic for the future of the public sector. Get involved by contacting info@good-governance.org.uk or hello@legrand.co.uk and engaging with #DigitalPremium on social media to share your views and experience.

To download your free copy of the report, please visit https://www.tynetec.co.uk/unleashing-the-digital-premium/

To find out more and apply, please visit: http://www.tynetec.co.uk/job-vacancies/

This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced Project Engineer (2 vacancies). The successful candidate’s will manage all of Aidcall and Tynetec system installations across one of the the following areas:

South East England and South West England

- Project Administrator – Blyth

We also have a brand new position for a Project Administrator based at our Blyth Quay Office.

For more information please see the link to the job description’s or contact Lee Stephens, National Project Manager by email lee.stephens@legrand.co.uk

For more information please see the link below to the job description’s or contact Lee Stephens, National Project Manager by email lee.stephens@legrand.co.uk

Visit our vacancies page to find out more: http://www.tynetec.co.uk/job-vacancies/

She said: “The aim of Hay Days is to bring isolated community groups, people living in sheltered accommodation and care homes across the region together to take part in weekly and monthly activities which encourage new friendships and tackle isolation through fun, social events hosted on the Farm.

“Even though some experience physical or mental infirmities, age should not be a barrier to meeting people and enjoying new experiences. The feedback we have received has been phenomenal and clearly demonstrates there is a need for this type of service in the community.”

Attendees at the VE Day- themed launch danced and sang along with talented vintage singing sensation Kayley Cares from Sunderland. They were then treated to a tasty lunch by the Farm’s catering team which was followed by a tour of the Farm.

Residents came from Scarbrough Court Care Home in Cramlington, Mind Active Northumberland, Frank Bushell House in South Shields and The Caddy Shacks, a group covering Northumberland and Tyneside which brings adults with learning disabilities and physical disabilities together for trips and activities to help them make new friends and integrate with the local community.

June Shone, coordinator for The Caddy Shacks, said: “We had a great day at Whitehouse Farm. Hay Days is a fantastic idea, everyone in our group said what a fantastic day out and how brilliant the organisation was. It was great to see so many people from different groups get up and dance and mix with one another. I’d like to thank the team at Whitehouse Farm, who were lovely, so friendly and helpful and wish them every success with Hay Days.”

In order to minimise the cost of running Hays Days events and activities to ensure they are affordable for people, Whitehouse Farm is receiving support from Legrand Assisted Living & Healthcare. The company designs, manufactures and supplies innovative technology solutions for the supported housing, health and social care sectors through their Tynetec, Jontek and Aid Call brands.

Managing Director for Legrand Assisted Living & Healthcare, Chris Dodd, explains: “We are delighted to be involved in this fantastic initiative. Hay Days aims to tackle many of the key issues that are prevalent within our market, given that our products and services are designed to empower individuals to be safe, happy and independent in their own environments.

“Without a safe and friendly environment, many of the most vulnerable members within our community experience loneliness and isolation. As we are a Northumberland-based company that has been designing and manufacturing products in Blyth for over 40 years, we are fully invested in tackling the lack of activities available to combat loneliness in our local area, which is why we are working in partnership with Whitehouse Farm to support an event that is providing a much-needed social environment for elderly people to enjoy.”

What is the biggest priority for the care industry in 2018?
The care industry is prioritising the facilitation of a more person centered approach to care, as opposed to the former ‘one size fits all’ model. With the average living age and the number of individuals considered vulnerable or at risk increasing daily, the structured systems that previously worked within the sector are no longer feasible for providing the quality of care required. Alternative methods and technology are therefore needed to meet the additional challenges arising.

What are the main trends you are expecting to see in the market in 2018?
Technology that has open protocols which support interoperability will become prominent in the market in 2018. A combination of connected technology will create package solutions that focus on the needs of individual’s, offering greater flexibility to effectively manage care staff and users at a time of increased pressure on the industry.

What technology is going to have the biggest impact on the market this year?
Wireless technology will have the biggest impact this year as it is offering care facilities the ability to expand their capabilities to meet the ever changing priorities of the healthcare market. Without the need to rely on cables or stationary wiring points, wireless systems are indefinitely expandable, as additional elements can be easily added if further support is required.

In 2020 we’ll all be talking about…?
In 2020 we’ll be talking about the ‘Internet of Things’ approach which describes all of the technology within a building being connected to provide fully automated healthcare facilities. Healthcare technology will work with other services in the coming years to form part of a bigger digital building solution.

Which person in, or associated with, the care industry would you most like to meet?
Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Jeremy Hunt, to ask him how he proposes to meet and fund the long-term care needs of an aging population.

What’s the most surprising thing you’ve learnt about the care industry?
That it is still a caring industry; despite the challenging demands on the sector, it still remains a positive and caring environment with great things being achieved on a daily basis.

What’s the most exciting thing about your job?
Meeting the great people involved in the care sector.

And what’s the most challenging?
Remaining ‘on my toes’ and continuously innovating to develop products and services that help support this ever-evolving sector.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?
“Whether you think you can or you can’t – you are right.”

Aid Call attended the awards as the sponsor of the Care Home of the Year category, which recognises care homes that really focus on innovative ways of providing dignified and compassionate care.

National Sales Manager for Aid Call, Chris Donnelly, explained: “Aid Call chose to sponsor the Care Home of the Year category because of some of the excellent work we see on a daily basis throughout our interactions in the care home sector.”

From hundreds of nominations to the seven care homes that were shortlisted in the category, Abbotsford House in Glasgow were named Care Home of the Year.

Chris added: “Congratulations to Abbotsford House on their well deserved award, I’m sure it was a difficult decision as each and every care home deserves to be recognised for their services.”

Tynetec manufactures and supplies grouped living systems, access control systems and telecare solutions to local authorities and housing associations across the UK, and Aid Call has been the leading UK provider of wireless nurse call systems for over 40 years. Together the business units supply Anchor with a complete solution which will maintain the high quality of care the not-for-profit organisation has always provided its residents.

Legrand’s acquisition of the maintenance contract has additionally created five new jobs within the Tynetec and Aid Call business units. Two service engineers and three administrators have been recruited to assist with the maintenance of Anchor’s retirement homes and villages. The team will be communicating with Anchor on a daily basis to ensure that they provide the highest quality of security and support to the elderly population of England.

Sales Director for Legrand Assisted Living & Healthcare, Wendy Kendall, commented: “Legrand are proud to be working in partnership with Anchor and we now see ourselves as an extension to the Anchor team, given that we will be working very closely with the organisation to ensure the continued safe provision of their valuable services.”

The Aid Call Touchsafe Pro Nurse Call system was the obvious choice for the new ICU because its wireless configuration meets the requirements of any project, no matter the size or scale, offering complete flexibility and mobility. The system can facilitate individual patient requirements, adapt to change and be added to over time. It can also be installed quickly and specifically to each site because there is no need to rely on cables and stationary wiring points.

Building Services Consultants DSSR drew up the specification for the new wing with support from the Aid Call and Bradford Teaching Hospitals Project Manager, Shane Embleton. A bespoke system that could be proven to benefit the staff and patients needed to be designed and the specifications were adapted as the requirements of the hospital altered. Once the plans were in place, a tender was released and Aid Call quoted 24 contractors for the project before meeting with the winning contractor in April 2016.

Business Development Manager for Aid Call, Stuart Barclay, said: “The Aid Call team worked with many contractors and suppliers throughout the phased installation of our Touchsafe Pro system. We collaborated with third party Bedhead Trunking suppliers to make sure our products could be mounted to the Beadhead correctly with sufficient capacity remaining to fit the light relays. Bradford Teaching Hospitals also wanted to connect third party telecare products to our Touchsafe Pro system, and although they would normally be plugged in to the bottom of the call points, we worked to make them speak wirelessly to one another from wherever the product was being used.”

Aid Call additionally carried out training with the Bradford Royal Infirmary staff over a 3 week period prior to the opening, and the company continues to provide support to the hospital on a monthly basis to meet the staff needs and management requirements.

Legrand’s Assisted Living & Healthcare division designs, manufactures and supplies innovative technology enabled care services (TECs) in the UK and Ireland. The division’s new identity brings three separate brands; Tynetec, Aid Call and Jontek together, to position Legrand as a leader in the assisted living market.

Kathryn Burton, Marketing Communications Manager at Legrand Assisted Living & Healthcare, explains: “The technology used by social care and health care services must continue to evolve in order to fulfill the needs of those that depend on these services. Our new Assisted Living & Healthcare identity brings our capabilities in marketing leading TECs under one roof.”

“All three brands are very successful in their own right but it was important for us to unite our offering to make it easy for customers to access our expertise and exploit the synergies between our products. This ensures that we continue to provide the excellent products and services our customers have come to expect and in turn, will enable us to continue investing and innovating within the industry.”

The company’s Tynetec brand specialises in grouped living systems, telecare solutions and access control systems which are supplied to local authorities and housing associations across the UK.

Aid Call has been a market leader in wireless nurse call technology for over 40 years, providing a range of products and bespoke solutions to care homes, care groups and hospitals.

The most recently acquired brand, Jontek, ensures Legrand can offer complete end-to-end TECs solutions, which prompted the new identity as the Home as Assisted Living & Healthcare. This business provides monitoring & response centre software solutions, incorporating telecare, telehealth & m-Care, to the public and private sector.

The deal was announced jointly by Chris Dodd, Managing Director of Legrand’s UK Assisted Living and Healthcare Business Unit and John Mooney, Managing Director of Jontek Ltd.

The Jontek brand has been at the forefront of monitoring for over 20 years and their Answer-link Monitoring Software Platform is the perfect complement to the Tynetec product offering of At Home Alarms and Assisted Living Call Systems.

Managing Director, Chris Dodd commented “The acquisition of Jontek Ltd provides us with a fantastic opportunity to offer complete, integrated solutions to all of our clients, adding greater value and enhanced digital capabilities.”

John Mooney added, “To achieve our long term goals of accelerating our market positions both nationally and internationally, Legrand will enable us to continue to invest strongly in what we believe to be the most advanced monitoring software on the market. Combining Tynetec product hardware and Jontek software will provide significant benefits to better service both of our customers.”

Chris Dodd concludes, “Historically, both Jontek and Tynetec have been committed advocates of an open protocol philosophy. This will continue to remain one of our primary considerations when developing integrated digital solutions and innovative IP care platforms of the future.”

For further information contact Chris Dodd on telephone 01670 352371 or email marketing@tynetec.co.uk

Dame Esther Rantzen hosted the event. As ambassador for The Silver Line, a support line for older people, her passion for the care sector shone through as did her genuine interest in the award winners and their success stories.

The winners included Anchor's Jane Ashcroft who achieved the Making a Difference Award and The End of Life Award went to Mount Ephraim House Care Team for their attentive and person-centred approach to palliative care.

Aid Call were in attendance as sponsors of the Community Engagement Award. Wendy Kendall, our Head of Sales, presented the award to worthy winners Together for Mental Wellbeing. This was in recognition of the contribution they make to local communities through supporting those who have experienced mental health concerns.

Halas Homes Dance Unity entertained with a number of contemporary dance routines including 'I'm only Human' by Christina Perri. The Certitude Community Choir, who were asked back by popular demand, performed a selection of festive songs and classic hits. The afternoon culminated in a joint performance by the two groups.

The triumphs of the care sector and the individuals that contribute to them are all too often overlooked in place of harrowing stories of neglect and abuse. The 3rd Sector Care Awards represented the opportunity to celebrate and appreciate those that make a difference and express the gratitude of those they care for. Long may this continue.

For a full list of finalists and winners click here.