Southampton Telecare Services’ receive electric vehicles

Southampton City Councils’ Telecare Service will travel to vulnerable patients in their newly acquired electric vehicles. 

The Telecare Service provides 24-hour  at-home support to over 6,300 residents. If a resident feels unwell, they can access the service by pressing a pendant or a wristband which is then connected directly to a local response team who will travel to the resident’s house. 

In a bid to help reduce air pollution, the council has now acquired two Nissan Leaf electric vehicles, which will allow the Telecare team to provide at-home support to residents in a zero-emission way. 

Purchasing these EVs is part of the council’s larger Green City Plan which was published in March 2020. 

The plan details an approach for the next ten years, with improving air quality a key theme throughout. 

All of the council’s new and existing electric fleet are powered by 100% renewable energy with new charging units recently installed at the City Depot Council transportation hub as part of the ongoing investment in Electric Vehicle infrastructure in Southampton.

Cllr Steve Leggett, the cabinet member for Green City and Place, said: ‘We set ourselves ambitious, challenging goals to help tackle climate change, including being a carbon neutral council by 2030.

‘We can only achieve this by leading the way with activities aimed at reducing our carbon footprint. We’re looking to invest in and modernise our fleet with an investment plan to increase the numbers of zero and low emission vehicles we operate across Southampton.

The new community cars join a growing number of electric vehicles currently in operation cross the city. In June, we switched 24 older, diesel vans to 100% electric versions which is 10% of the fleet and have more due in the coming months.”

Cllr Lorna Fielker, Cabinet Member for Health and Adult Care, added: ‘We appreciate the valued work of our City Telecare team, especially supporting our cities most vulnerable residents throughout the global pandemic and periods of isolation. It is only right with the volume of emergency calls and visits the team have been seeing that green vehicles are used in-line with our Green City strategy.’

Photo Credit – Pixabay