A new telecare website called AskTARA, which aims to make it easier for the public to access health and social products and services, is to be launched nationally on 1 October 2011. 

The site will initially target telecare and telehealth products, but will expand to take in a range of services such as personal support assistants/carers and residential and domiciliary care. 

AskTARA – which is also being turned into a phone app â€“ is the brainchild of Richard Haynes, director of Birmingham-based social enterprise company The Community Gateway CIC (TCG). 

The website, which has been nominated for two awards even before its official launch, will help people to self-manage health conditions by providing information on aids, from personal community alarms to flood detectors. 

This will quickly be extended to health products such as blood pressure monitors, which share data online with GPs, and services such as home support assistants and response services, to enable those with long-term difficulties to remain independent. 

"AskTARA is specifically aimed at the public and supports self-management, use of technology and really promotes patients taking control of their own lives," explains Richard. 

"Our motivation in creating this website was to make it much easier for people to find out about what's available – from gizmos to support services – to help them stay independent and retain their dignity. 

"Many local authority websites provide telehealthcare information, but it's often quite hidden. For example, you'll probably come across information about residential care for the elderly before you find details about products and services that could allow you to stay in your own home." 

Although a national website, organisations such as local health authorities can pay a subscription to tailor it to a geographical region or healthcare area. So far, 15 organisations have signed up. 

The site will launch with about 200 products aimed at helping a range of healthcare problems, from hearing impairment and learning difficulties to dementia and epilepsy. 

"There are sites for these kinds of products already, but one of AskTARA's USPs is that it’s much easier for people to navigate. Products are categorised in a way that is very user-friendly," says Richard, who overcame a childhood learning disability through being given a laptop. 

AskTARA has already been shortlisted for a Health Services Journal award in the "managing long-term conditions" category and nominated in The Big Society Awards. 

It has cost about £70,000 to set up AskTARA, with half the funding coming from TCG's partner Improvement Efficiency West Midlands. TCG invested from its own surplus to enable the project to go ahead. 

"Ongoing commissioners don't pay anything for the software licence – in fact there is a universal catalogue freely available – and only pay a low annual maintenance fee to cover the shared administration of things like adding new products and site moderation, such as product reviews." 

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