Around £2.5million has been saved in Suffolk County Council’s adult care budget as a result of commissioning digital devices, it has emerged.

More people are able to stay independent in their home as a result, adult care bosses added.

Suffolk County Council launched its Cassius service last summer, which sees digital devices provided for free to people with eligible care needs.

They include a fall pendant which can call for help or automatically raise the alarm for someone who has a trip, a video monitor for carers or family members to check in on their loved ones, reminder clocks for medication or exercise and a smartwatch which can call for help in emergencies.

The scheme, which is a tie-up between the council, equipment provider Alcove, and support firms Rethink Partners and Provide CIC, is funded entirely within the existing adult social care budget.

County council bosses said that it had already saved £2.5m in the budget by preventing other care services needing to be commissioned.

To date, more than 1,100 people have been handed devices and around 2,000 devices issued.

Louis Meers, digital care advisor at Suffolk County Council, said: “The devices are there to help people stay at home for longer more independently.

“Some of the devices will monitor through movement sensors so we can detect falls and predict deteriorations in people’s health.

“The idea is not to replace face-to-face care, it’s to put technology alongside it so that we can make sure people are safe at home and living at home for longer, because a lot of people don’t want to go into residential settings from their family homes.”

Mr Meers said one device, a C-pen, which scans across a document and reads it had helped one person to knit, which demonstrated that they were “giving people a new level of independence”.

They can be used for a range of needs, including for those with dementia, partial sight or mobility problems.

To find out more about the service and eligibility, visit the county council website at www.suffolk.gov.uk.