A start up from Epsom is hoping to change the way we support our elderly relatives.

Tab Care, who have offices in Epsom, said their aim is to make looking after elderly relatives who may still be living independently easier.

Speaking to the Surrey Comet days after the launch of the app's compatibility with Google Home, Tab Care CEO Vasu Sarin, who lives in Epsom, described the App's origins.

"I came up with the idea in 2015 when my grandmother had a fall...she collapsed and hit her head on the bins and was screaming out for help for hours but no one heard her because noone was home and noone was near her.

"She ended up getting up and getting on with her day and it was only when another relative came home they realized she had been hurt.

"We looked at panic alarms you could wear around your neck or writs but she didn't want to wear them, she didn't want to show people and said it made her feel really old..."

This was the genesis moment for the Tab Care App, which initially launched in April and aims to offer an alternative to more clunky panic alarm systems.

The Epsom-based team behind the app said it offers "a discreet panic alarm and location tracker" built into software available to download on most electronic devices.

The company also boast that the device can track elderly relatives panic, heart rate and location 24 hours daily, with any noteworthy changes setting off the panic alarm so that "the family will be informed within 60 milliseconds."

"I wanted a way for her to contact me, to work on her terms. If they want to wear the app with a Smartwatch they can, but it's also available on your phone and now Google Home," Mr Sarin said.

This confidence helped the business secure trials with three councils and a "large health service", which Tab Care said they couldn't name as discussions about implementing the app were still ongoing.

Nevertheless, the product appears to be going down well with Epsom's wider community.

Mr Thaker, for example, is a customer who is "in and out of Epsom quite a lot", has family in the town and has been using the App for around a week now.

Surrey Comet:

He told the Surrey Comet he'd been impressed by the App's functionality after having tested it out, though "thank God not in a real life situation" so far.

"Pretty much all my family, aunts, uncles and parents are quite elderly now...my parents live independently at the moment and it can be quite tough to monitor everyone's wellbeing when you're working full time.

"It seems to be pretty straightforward and simple, which is ideal for my parents. It does what it says on the box," Mr Thaker said.

"If they ever needed to call me for any reason there's a touch-sensitive button which is like a panic alarm that can generate an alert to tell me there's an issue and I can respond," he added.

To find out more about the app and how to download it go to: https://www.tab.care/