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

When Gwen Potter woke up in her London care home apartment on Remembrance Day in 2022, she remembers feeling that something was “not quite right.”

As she made her way towards the kitchen, she realized her legs were unstable and she couldn’t move her body to sit down. Then, she blacked out. 

“Next thing you know, I’m on the floor looking up at the underside of my couch,” Potter said, adding she later found out that she experienced a stroke.  

Potter laid on the ground for a few minutes before finding the strength to slowly drag herself to her bedroom, where she grabbed the emergency call bell string affixed to the wall and flopped back onto the bed.

Within minutes, a staff member from Chelsey Park Long Term Care rushed to the room and called for medical help, Potter said. It was that call bell system and quick response that her daughter, Alison Potter, believes saved her mother’s life.

“I don’t know if her stroke would have been reversed to the degree that it was,” Alison said. “I hate to think that it could’ve been even worse than just 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 takes care of herself, but has the support of on-site nurses and staff for emergencies through the call bell.

However, in July 2025, Alison said she received a notice from Chelsey Park’s executive director that the residence’s call bell system would soon be disconnected. 

“It’s not just my mom, but it’s everybody in that building. There’s concern. How are these senior citizens going to get help?” she said. 

In an email to CBC News, a spokesperson from Chelsey Park said the system was “discontinued following repeated malfunctions and ongoing repair issues” in the independent apartment building, but would continue at the long-term care building. 

Neither the residence nor the overarching Southbridge Care Homes responded to requests for an interview. 

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

Rather than replace it, the memo said staff will deliver a small card to residents with a nurse’s emergency phone number and recommended families find another emergency alert system.

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

Potter said she has no intention of getting either. 

“When I had the stroke before, my hands wouldn’t work … That’s what concerns me: the fact that maybe I can get the phone but I wouldn’t be able to press those buttons to make that call,” she said. 

Staff gave residents a list of medical alert system providers, with prices over $35 per month, plus additional costs for the initial installation and the “fall detection” feature. Potter said that’s out of her budget. 

“I’m trying to put it off because of the expense. When you’re on government pensions, you don’t have that kind of money to put out each month,” she said, adding that she’s had discussions with fellow care home residents who are also reluctant to buy their own emergency systems.

Potter said she enjoys living at the care home because of the many activities offered and sense of community there. 

For now, she has set up a system with a friend, whom she calls every morning before 8 a.m. to let her know she’s doing OK. If the two don’t get in touch, the friend is supposed to call the nursing station for a wellness check. 

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

“This has an economic repercussion for the seniors that are living there. I just feel like these people have given their entire lives to this society and we’re not looking after them properly,” she said.