Choose a nurse call system by starting with your residents, not the hardware. Work out who needs call points, pendants, sensors or speech, and who needs quieter alerting. Then test how calls reach staff, how response data is reported, how the system connects to your care records, and how it will be supported for its whole working life.
Key points
- Base the specification on residents’ needs and your building, not on a product brochure.
- Wired, wireless and hybrid systems can all work well; the building survey should decide.
- Reporting on call activity and response helps you evidence safe, responsive care to CQC.
- Judge suppliers on support, training, data security and the whole life of the system, not only the installation.
What should a nurse call system do in a care home?
A nurse call system should let every resident summon help easily, route each call to the right member of staff, escalate calls that are not answered, and record what happened. In a care home it should also support quiet alerting, sensor inputs and reporting that helps you evidence safe, responsive care.
Systems designed around a corridor light and a loud sounder can work against a calm, homely environment, particularly on dementia units where noise can cause distress. Modern systems can send calls silently to staff handsets, distinguish between call types such as routine, assistance and emergency, and let staff register their presence in the room so the record shows when help arrived.
Think carefully about residents who cannot press a button. For them, the system needs to accept inputs from sensors such as bed and chair pressure mats, door contacts and movement detectors, so that a need is flagged without the resident having to act. The nurse call systems section of our site explains how these parts fit together.
Running sheltered or extra care housing rather than a care home? See our guide to digital warden call systems.
Should you choose a wired, wireless or hybrid system?
The right choice depends on your building, not on which technology is newer. Wired systems suit new builds and major refurbishments where cabling is straightforward. Wireless systems suit occupied homes where disruption must be kept low. Hybrid designs keep sound existing cabling and add wireless devices where new cable is impractical.
A proper site survey should come before any quotation. Thick walls, extensions and metal structures affect how a system is installed and how reliably wireless signals travel.
| Consideration | Wired | Wireless | Hybrid |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best suited to | New builds and full refurbishments | Occupied homes and buildings that are hard to cable | Homes with reliable existing cabling that need to extend or upgrade |
| Disruption during installation | Higher, as cable routes are needed to each room | Lower, with less work inside residents’ rooms | Moderate, focused on the areas being added |
| Ongoing maintenance | Fewer batteries to manage; cable faults can be harder to trace | Battery changes and signal checks need a routine | Both routines apply to different parts of the system |
| Flexibility | Moving call points means new cabling | Devices can be added or moved as needs change | Flexible where wireless devices are used |
| Main question to ask | How will installation be phased around residents? | How is coverage proved and device loss detected? | Is the existing cabling in good enough condition to keep? |
How should calls reach your staff?
Calls should reach the staff who can respond, in a way that suits the setting. Many care homes now use handsets or smartphones alongside, or instead of, corridor displays and sounders. The aim is that the right person knows about a call straight away, while residents who are asleep or anxious are not disturbed by noise.
Ask how calls are grouped by zone, floor or team, and how that changes at night when fewer staff cover more of the building. Check what happens when a call is not answered: who it escalates to, and how quickly. Staff who have hearing impairments may need vibrating or visual alerts, which is part of making reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act 2010.
What reporting will help with CQC inspections?
Good reporting shows how quickly calls are answered, when calls peak and which residents call most often. That evidence supports your answers under the CQC Safe and Responsive key questions, helps you plan staffing around real demand, and helps you spot changes in a resident’s needs early.
Ask to see the reports a manager would actually use, not a raw event log. They should be quick to run and easy to filter by unit, shift or resident. Check how staff presence in the room is recorded, because a call cancelled from a corridor is not the same as help arriving. Use the data to improve care, not to blame individuals.
How should nurse call connect to your other systems?
Ask what the system can connect to and how. Common links include sensors and door monitoring, telephony, staff alerting apps and digital care records. Every connection should be documented, supported by both parties and tested, because an integration that fails without anyone noticing is worse than having no integration at all.
Any system that sits on your network or holds resident information needs proper security. Ask whether the supplier holds Cyber Essentials certification, how remote support access is controlled, how software updates are delivered, and who owns the data. Your own organisation’s Data Security and Protection Toolkit submission should be able to account for the system, so involve whoever manages that from the start.
What should you plan for installation, training and support?
Plan the whole life of the system, not just the installation. Agree how the work will be phased around residents, how every staff group will be trained, including night and bank staff, what maintenance is included, how quickly faults are fixed, and how long parts, software and support will remain available.
The lowest quotation is not always the lowest whole-life cost once maintenance, handset replacement, licences and support are included. Ask for commissioning records, as-fitted drawings and a named contact at handover.
Buyer’s checklist: questions to ask any supplier
- Will you survey the building and talk to staff and residents before you specify anything?
- How will the system meet the needs of residents who cannot use a call button?
- How are calls routed, escalated and acknowledged, day and night?
- What happens if a handset, device or the wireless network fails?
- Which sensors, door systems and care record systems does it connect to today, and who supports each link?
- Do you hold Cyber Essentials, and how is remote access controlled?
- Who owns the call data, where is it stored and how long is it kept?
- How will installation be phased to keep disruption to residents low?
- What training is included, and how are new starters trained later?
- What does maintenance include, and how quickly are faults attended?
- How long will parts, software updates and support be available?
Frequently asked questions
Is a nurse call system a CQC requirement?
CQC does not prescribe a particular nurse call product. Inspectors look at whether care is safe and responsive, and a reliable way for residents to summon help, backed by evidence that calls are answered promptly, is one of the clearest ways a care home can show that it meets those expectations.
Can we keep our existing call points when we upgrade?
Sometimes. If existing cabling and call points are in good condition and compatible with the new equipment, a hybrid upgrade may keep them. A survey should check condition, compatibility and whether the older devices can support the features you need, such as presence recording and different call types, before you decide.
Do handset-based systems depend on our wifi?
Some do and some use their own radio network. If calls travel over your wifi, the network needs to cover every area staff work in and be resilient. Ask the supplier how coverage is tested, what happens if the network fails, and how calls still reach staff during an outage.
How can we reduce call bell noise at night?
Send calls to staff handsets rather than corridor sounders, use displays sparingly, and set different alerting for different call types. Many systems allow quieter settings on specific units or at specific times. Make sure any change still guarantees that every call reaches a member of staff who can respond.
How disruptive is installing nurse call in an occupied home?
It depends on the building and the type of system. Wireless and hybrid designs usually mean less work inside residents’ rooms. A good installer will phase the work, agree times with the home, protect residents’ belongings, and make sure there is never a gap in call cover while old equipment is replaced.
If you are reviewing your nurse call arrangements, we can help you work through the options independently of any one manufacturer. We will look at your residents’ needs, your building and your current system, then give you clear, practical recommendations. Book a free care technology review.