This 90-year-old woman says an emergency call bell saved her life. Her care home has removed it

When Gwen Potter wakes up in her London care home apartment on Remembrance Day in 2022, she has a feeling that something “wasn’t quite right.”

As she moved towards the kitchen, she realized that her legs were unsteady and she was unable to move her body to sit. Then, she fainted.

“Next thing you know, I’m on the floor looking under my couch,” Potter said. He further said that he later learned that he had experienced a stroke.

Potter lay on the ground for a few minutes and slowly found the strength to drag herself to her bedroom, where she grabbed the string of the emergency call bell on the wall and fell back onto the bed.

Within minutes, a staff member from Chelsea Park Long Term Care arrived in the room and called for medical assistance, Potter said. Her daughter Alison Potter believes that the call bell system and quick response saved her mother’s life.

“I don’t know whether his stroke would have been reversible to the extent that it was,” Ellison said. “I hate to think that it could have been worse than irreversible signs of stroke, but she could have died.”

Potter, now 90, lives in the retirement home’s “independent living apartment building”, where she cooks, cleans and cares for herself, but has the support of on-site nurses and staff for emergencies via call bell.

However, in July 2025, Ellison said he received a notice from the executive director of Chelsea Park that the residence’s call bell system would soon be disconnected.

“It’s not just my mother, but everyone in that building. There is concern. How will these senior citizens be helped?” He said.

In an email to CBC News, a spokesperson for Chelsea Park said the system in the independent apartment building was “shut down due to repeated malfunctions and ongoing repair issues,” but would continue in the long-term care building.

Neither Housing nor the major Southbridge care homes responded to requests for interviews.

Cell phones and alarm systems are not accessible

In two email memos to residents obtained by CBC News, the care home said it was disconnecting the call bell system because it was outdated, adding that parts for it were no longer available.

Instead of replacing it, staff will distribute a small card to residents with a nurse’s emergency phone number and families will be advised to find another emergency alert system, the memo said.

“To help ensure your safety, we also encourage you to consider alternative personal safety options, such as a medical alert device or cell phone, that you can easily access in an emergency,” the memo said.

Potter said he had no intention of getting it either.

She said, “When I first had my stroke, my hands weren’t working… That’s what worries me: the fact that I might be able to get a phone but I wouldn’t be able to press those buttons to make a call.”

Staff gave residents a list of medical alert system providers, with prices exceeding $35 per month, plus additional costs for initial installation and a “fall detection” feature. Potter said it was out of his budget.

“I’m trying to put it off because of the expense. When you’re on a government pension, you don’t have that kind of money to spend every month,” she said.

Request for more support

Potter said she enjoys living in a care home because there are many activities offered and a sense of community.

For now, she has set up a system with a friend, whom she calls every morning before 8 a.m. and tells her she’s OK. If the two do not come into contact, the friend will have to call the nursing station for a health check.

Alison said she hopes the care home will do more to help her mother and other residents, whether it’s installing a new call bell system, ordering all residents’ personal alarm systems or reducing the rent to help cover the extra cost of personal alarms.

“It has an economic impact on the seniors who live there. I feel like these people have given their entire lives to this community and we’re not taking care of them properly,” he said.