Enhanced Dementia care
GP practices throughout North Somerset can now receive specialist training in dementia diagnosis from a consultant psychiatrist and a team of memory nurses, thanks to a new service commissioned by North Somerset Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).
The service will include ongoing support to every practice from a memory nurse and the option for GP’s who have undergone the necessary training, to diagnose non-complex cases of dementia in a primary care setting and, where appropriate, prescribe the necessary medication.
It is just one aspect of a comprehensive infrastructure of support for people living with dementia and their families across the patch. The CCG is also working closely with the local branch of the Alzheimer’s Society, the Specialist Memory Assessment Service from Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership Trust, North Somerset Council, North Somerset Community Partnership, Rethink Mental Illness and Age UK to further improve support.
CCG staff have also undergone training as Dementia Friends, to gain a better insight into the impact of the illness on service users.
Explained Lee Colwill, North Somerset CCG Commissioning Manager: Joint Commissioning and Partnership:
“Dementia is a key priority in the CCG’s operational plan. We estimate that there are approximately 3,200 people in North Somerset with some form of dementia, of which 2,100 have already received a diagnosis. Having a formal diagnosis can be an important step to help a person better understand the changes that are happening to them, but it also opens up access to a range of post-diagnostic services to help support that person, their families and carers.“
An important component of the diagnostic process is played by the Specialist Memory Assessment Service based at Windmill House in Clevedon. North Somerset memory services manager Kay Stokes has played a vital role in streamlining the service and the clinic has received recognition from Professor Alistair Burns National Clinical Director for Dementia, NHS England, for its work to reduce assessment waiting times from several months to just six weeks
She explained:
“This has been achieved by streamlining both the way in which we undertake our paper work and our assessment programme. Whereas all our assessments were previously undertaken in a service user’s home, today most of these take place at the clinic itself, although we will still conduct home assessments if it is more convenient for the patient and carer.”
Kay’s team includes four memory nurses, two part-time consultants, a part-time GP, two reviewing support workers and a clinical psychiatrist. Together, they will provide training for North Somerset GPs, in an initiative which will now be available to the practice of any GP who wishes to undertake it.
Added Kay:
“The memory clinic is the lynch pin in bringing together the services designed for people with dementia and their families. We work in tandem with GPs and the Alzheimer’s Society with the aim of ensuring speedy and accurate diagnosis and access to support and care for people once they have received a diagnosis.”
Dementia is proving an increasing challenge to North Somerset in common with the rest of the UK, however evidence shows that taking action to adopt a healthier lifestyle, such as improving diet and physical exercise can help people to reduce their risk of developing dementia, as well as other vascular conditions such as heart disease, stroke diabetes and kidney disease.
Added Lee Colwill:
“Dementia is still a subject that many people find hard to talk about, but it is one that will affect many of us either directly or indirectly over the course of our lives. North Somerset has worked with the Royal College of General Practitioners and the Department of Health to develop the Dementia Roadmap, which provides high quality information about the dementia journey alongside local information about services, support groups and care pathways to help support people with dementia and cognitive impairment, their families and carers.
If you are concerned about your own, or someone else’s memory it is important that you speak with your GP about your concerns or the local branch of the Alzheimer’s Society.”
