Cash boost for Scottish telecare

All 32 of Scotland’s councils are to receive a share of an £8m Scottish executive fund to develop telecare services.

They will use the money to install fall sensors, panic buttons and flood detectors in the homes of older and vulnerable people.

The alerts will be linked to a round-the-clock emergency call and response centre.

The executive hopes the scheme will benefit 75,000 people, including 9,000 with dementia.

Communities minister Malcolm Chisholm (pictured) said the initiative would enable people who would have previously gone into residential care to live longer at home.

The scheme is based on a pilot project, set up in West Lothian in 2001, which has already helped 2,300 people.

Telecare guidance