A leading charity has backed a plan for electronic tagging of dementia sufferers, it was reported yesterday.
The Alzheimer's Society said the plan could empower patients by giving them more freedom to wander off and could help families care for patients for longer.
The tags use satellite tracking systems similar to those used for offenders and would only be used with the patient's consent.
The society says many dementia sufferers feel a compelling urge to walk, with 40 per cent getting lost when they wander, distressing themselves and their families.
Chief executive of the Alzheimer's Society, Neil Hunt, said the technology "could offer benefits" to people with dementia.
He said: "There is a careful balance to strike between empowering people and restricting their movement and this technology can certainly never be used as an alternative for high-quality dementia care."
In April this year the plan was put forward by Science Minister Malcolm Wicks to a mixed reception.
Mr Wicks said: "We've got an ageing population with many people frail and many suffering from dementia, including Alzheimer's.
"How can we get the balance right so that these people have the freedom to live their lives, to go out in the community and go shopping?"
But the scheme was then labelled a "gimmick" by Shami Chakrabarti, director of Liberty and greeted cautiously by Help the Aged.
There are about 700,000 people in the UK with dementia, which mainly affects older people. A large proportion of those have Alzheimer's disease.
That figure is set to rise to more than one million in 20 years and to 1.7 million by 2050
