SURREY and Borders Partnership is one of just seven NHS Trusts awarded a grant to carry out a two-year project to give dementia sufferers more control over their own health and well-being.

The project will put the trust at the forefront of delivering fundamental change in the delivery of care in the UK.

Latest figures show 6,606 people in Surrey have been formally diagnosed with dementia, although it is estimated around 16,800 have some form of the condition.

Surrey and Borders is one of two NHS Trusts delivering the ‘Internet of Things’ project to establish how the use of network-enabled devices, such as monitors, robotics and wearable devices, can provide better healthcare for older people in the comfort of their own homes.

Using remote-connectivity, carers will also be able to monitor the behaviour of the person they are caring for when not with them.

The grant, funded by NHS England and Innovate UK, is part of a series of different projects aiming to modernise health care to benefit older patients and people with long-term health problems.

The health trust will be working with the Surrey University, London’s Royal Holloway University, Kent, Surrey and Sussex Academic Health Science Network, the Alzheimer’s Society, clinical commissioning groups and charities.

Surrey and Borders chief executive Fiona Edwards said: “I’m really excited we have been given this opportunity to improve the quality of life for people with dementia and their families.

“With a growing elderly population who are likely to experience long-term physical and mental health conditions, innovative new technologies such as those we are trialling through the project will help more people to receive the support they need to live well in their own homes. It is also about improving responsiveness of the health and care system, providing support at an earlier stage and reducing the amount of time people spend in hospital.”