Transforming the quality of dementia care – consultation on a National Dementia Strategy Mike Rochfort Programme Lead Older People’s Mental Health WM CSIP

Add date of event here CSIP Region logo here Policy Commitment To develop a national dementia strategy and implementation plan by October 2008 with the following themes: Improving awareness Early diagnosis and intervention Improving the quality of care for people with dementia from diagnosis – General hospital care – Care homes – Intermediate care – Care in people’s own homes

Add date of event here CSIP Region logo here Key themes of draft Strategy Improving awareness Early and better diagnosis Improved quality of care Delivering the Strategy

Add date of event here CSIP Region logo here Who is the Strategy for? People with dementia Carers Commissioners Providers Local authority corporate functions Acute health trusts Regulation and inspection bodies Workforce and skills training bodies

Add date of event here CSIP Region logo here Recommendation 1 – Increased public and professional awareness of dementia Public information campaigns at national and local levels making use of the personal narratives of people with dementia and their carers

Add date of event here CSIP Region logo here Recommendation 2 - An informed and effective workforce for people with dementia

Add date of event here CSIP Region logo here Recommendation 3 – Good quality early diagnosis and intervention for all Commissioning a specific service to carry out the specific function of early diagnosis and intervention, working in a way that complements existing services

Add date of event here CSIP Region logo here Recommendation 4 – Good quality information for those with dementia and their carers Development of a comprehensive package of high quality information, to be given out following diagnosis and during care as needed. To include information on the nature of the condition, its treatment and support available nationally and locally

Add date of event here CSIP Region logo here Recommendation 5 – Enabling continuity of support and advice Development of a dementia care adviser role. Not responsible for the provision of services themselves, they could provide a single point of contact for people with dementia and carers, to provide advice and to signpost them to access the care needed

Add date of event here CSIP Region logo here Recommendation 6 - Improved quality of care in general hospitals General hospitals developing an explicit care pathway for the management of people with dementia on their wards, identifying a senior clinician to lead its development and delivery. Complemented by the provision of older people’s mental health liaison teams for general hospitals to provide specialist assessments and expertise

Add date of event here CSIP Region logo here Recommendation 7 – Improve home care for people with dementia Commissioners and providers reviewing the specification of the services they buy to ensure that the home care services that are commissioned are personalised, offer flexible support, and are appropriate to meet the needs of the individual with dementia. People with more complex needs are likely to require a specialist home care service

Add date of event here CSIP Region logo here Recommendation 8 - Improve respite care/short breaks for people with dementia and their family carers Respite care/short term breaks that provide valued and enjoyable experiences for people with dementia as well as their family carers; that are flexible and responsive and that can be provided in a variety of settings including the home of the person with dementia

Add date of event here CSIP Region logo here Recommendation 9 – A Joint commissioning strategy for dementia A joint commissioning strategy by local authorities, PCTs and others, based on a Joint Strategic Needs Assessment generating a comprehensive integrated pathway of care to cover the full range of generic and specialist home support services, rehabilitation and intermediate care and residential and nursing care services. It would define the specification for each element of the pathway against which services would be procured and performance managed. It would take account of the allocation of personal budgets for people with dementia and the implications of self directed commissioning

Add date of event here CSIP Region logo here Recommendation 10 – Intermediate care for people with dementia Updating Department of Health guidance on intermediate care to ensure that the needs of people with dementia are properly addressed. PCTs and local authorities reviewing services to ensure that people with dementia have access to re-ablement home care and rehabilitation services, including intermediate care

Add date of event here CSIP Region logo here Recommendation 11 - Improved dementia care in care homes Care homes developing a policy for good quality care for people with dementia; the appointment of a senior member of staff to lead the development and delivery of the policy; the policy being monitored and its provision being part of the contracting process. Commissioning specialist mental health in-reach services into care homes as well as enabling in-reach from other professionals such as community pharmacists, community dentists, optometry and geriatricians

Add date of event here CSIP Region logo here Recommendation 12 – Improved registration and inspection of care homes Given that the large majority of people in care homes have dementia, this might be achieved by registration procedures requiring all care homes being able to demonstrate that they can provide good quality care for people with dementia, unless there are specific reasons for exemption

Add date of event here CSIP Region logo here Recommendation 13 – Clear information on the delivery of the strategy National baseline measurement of dementia service content and resources. Subsequently, an independent programme of successive assessments completed on a national basis to deliver information on the growth and activity of services for people with dementia and their carers, comparing services against agreed benchmarks at one, three and five years.

Add date of event here CSIP Region logo here Recommendation 14 – A clear picture of research evidence and needs A strategic review of UK dementia research, conducted or facilitated by the Department of Health, which sets out how research funders, charities and industry can work together to deliver the programme of dementia research needed on prevention, cause, cure and care.

Add date of event here CSIP Region logo here Recommendation 15 – Effective support of implementation Central DH support with regional and local implementation

Add date of event here CSIP Region logo here Links to other current strategies Carers Strategy End of Life Strategy Our NHS, Our Future Putting People First NICE commissioning guide for memory assessment services Independent Living Strategy Darzi Review

Add date of event here CSIP Region logo here What does this mean for you? Thinking of your locality, what will this mean for: - – Commissioners – Providers – Staff – Residents – People with dementia Do you know what you already have in your locality? Do you know what you need? What needs to happen in your area to – Start the process? – Make a difference?

Add date of event here CSIP Region logo here The challenge for you How will you ensure that people with dementia and their carers have a voice in the development & delivery of your services? How will you make the cultural shifts required? How will you ensure the commitment and investment required? Do you have local leadership? Do you have real local partnerships that work? How will you know that local changes/developments have made a difference to people’s lives? Are you ready?

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