DEMENTIA sufferers could be given GPS tracking devices as part of a new scheme.

About 100 elderly people across Wrexham who have the degenerative condition would be fitted with a small tracking unit.

It would enable families to know where sufferers may be if they go missing, a senior councillor said.

The scheme will become reality if Wrexham Council is successful in an application for its share of £1.2 million of Welsh Government funding available through the Intermediate Care Fund.

The authority also wants to fund other health initiatives, including improved care co-ordination between different public services and improved care for people not requiring a hospital place, but not well enough to be caring for themselves at home.

Cllr David Griffiths, lead member for health and adult social care, said: “Dementia is a terrible condition and when sufferers go walkabout it can lead to the family not knowing where their family member is.

“This scheme would give them peace of mind, because sometimes when sufferers go missing they are just around the corner, or sometimes have wandered further afield.

“As a council, we are committed to ensuring our older people are not vulnerable and are safe at all times.”

The council’s executive board will vote on the issue on Tuesday and the recommendations set out in the report indicate the bid will be approved.

l Dementia patients in Sussex became the first in the country to have the tracking devices last year.