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Strategy to improve local dementia care is launched

Posted on 01/02/12

Adults & Communities

31 January 2012

Strategy to improve local dementia care is launched

A summit is being held next week to launch a new strategy aimed at improving local dementia care.

The Improving Lives: A partnership approach to dementia event will take place on Wednesday 8 February at Leicester City Football Club and will be attended by health and social care professionals from across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.

The dementia strategy has been developed in partnership with Leicester City Council, Leicestershire County Council, Rutland County Council and the Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland PCT Cluster.

During the event health and social care professionals will be able to find out more about the strategy and will be encouraged to continue working jointly to improve dementia care. There will also be a range of keynote speakers, a question and answer session and a film showing first-hand what life is like for a person with dementia.

The five key elements of the new local dementia strategy are: early diagnosis; improving experiences of hospital care; improved care in residential and nursing homes; improved care for people with dementia in the community; and a workforce fit to deliver services to support the care pathway for dementia, and work is already taking place in these areas.

Leicesters city mayor Sir Peter Soulsby, who will welcome delegates to the event, said: I am delighted to be introducing the summit. Having developed a strategy together, this event will help health and social care authorities to build further links with one another and illustrate how, by working together, we can ensure the best possible diagnosis, treatment and care for people with dementia, their carers and their families.

David Sprason, Leicestershire County Councils cabinet member for adults and communities, said: By working together on this strategy, we will be able to improve early diagnosis and access to treatment for people living with dementia. This will help health and social care professionals to put plans in place that best suit the needs of the individuals concerned.

Roger Begy, leader of Rutland County Council, said: This is a very important initiative for Rutland when you consider that around a quarter of our population is aged over 65. Its vital that everybody works together to improve the health and wellbeing of local communities. Im particularly keen to see us develop even further our work around early diagnosis as this is where we can make a real difference to peoples quality of life.

Catherine Griffiths, chief executive of the Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland PCT Cluster, said: This summit shows a commitment from health and social care groups across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland to work together. I am delighted that the strategy will be helping to improve dementia care for local people and their families through early diagnosis and improved care both at home, in the community and in hospital.

Dr Ian Cross, a GP and the mental health lead for Leicester City Clinical Commissioning Group, added: Early diagnosis and intervention can help to improve the life of people with dementia by ensuring they and their families receive the care and support they need, and this new strategy for Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland will enable health and social care groups to work together better to ensure this can happen.

ENDS

For interviews or more information please contact senior media officer Caroline Higgs on 0116 295 7663 or caroline.higgs@lcr.nhs.uk or media officer Liz Thomas on 0116 295 4123 or liz.thomas@leicestercity.nhs.uk

Notes to editor:

In October 2010 NHS Leicester City and NHS Leicestershire County and Rutland joined forces to form a cluster, in line with the requirements of the Department of Health. Although we share one Cluster Board and our staff work across the city and county boundaries, we have not legally merged, and retain our separate statutory duties. Together we serve a population of more than a million people. Cluster formation is an interim stage in the reform of the NHS, involving ongoing transfer of most local commissioning functions to GP-led clinical commissioning groups, in line with the Health and Social Care Bill, now before Parliament and the House of Lords.

DEMENTIA STRATEGY Q&AS

What is the new local dementia strategy?

The new Joint Dementia Commissioning Strategy from April 2011-2014 is a document which sets out how local agencies plan to work together to organise and buy services that will help people with dementia, their carers and their families. The strategy has been developed by NHS Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland, Leicester City Council, Leicestershire County Council and Rutland County Council.

What are the aims of the strategy?

The aims of the strategy are:

• To improve early diagnosis and access to treatment for people living with dementia
• To ensure that they and their carers have access to a co-ordinated health and social care pathway

Early diagnosis is essential to help health and social care professionals to put plans in place that best suit the individual concerned. Often people are unknown to health and social care professionals until services are provided in a crisis or when diagnosis occurs late in the illness and the opportunities for harm prevention and maximisation of quality of life have passed.

What are the key principles of the strategy?

The key principles of the strategy are:

• Working together to organise joint arrangements for planning and commissioning. This means that all the agencies involved in putting together the dementia strategy will work together to buy services and to plan how they will invest money into services in the future
• Developing joint commissioning in those priority areas where partnership will add value in terms of improved outcomes and greater efficiencies. This means that all the agencies involved will first look at the areas where they think planning and buying services jointly will provide value for money and make the most positive difference to service users
• Employing a flexible approach to how organisations deliver on priorities, as one size certainly does not fit all

Why was the strategy developed?

The local strategy was developed in response to the National Dementia Strategy, which aims to ensure that significant improvements are made to dementia services across three key areas:

• Improved awareness of dementia
• Earlier diagnosis and intervention
• Higher quality of care

The national strategy identified several key objectives which, when implemented at a local level, would result in improvements in the quality of services provided for people with dementia, as well as raising awareness about dementia.

The local strategy identifies local actions which link to the objectives outlined in the national strategy.

What priorities have been identified by the strategy?

The priorities are:

• Early diagnosis and access to care and support services. NHS Leicestershire County and Rutland (NHS LCR) and NHS Leicester City (NHS LC) (which make up the Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland PCT Cluster) and Leicestershire Partnership Trust will lead on this area of work
• Improved experience of hospital care. NHS LCR, NHS LC and University Hospitals of Leicester will lead on this area of work
• Improved quality of care in residential/care homes. Leicestershire County Council will lead on this area of work
• Personalisation of care and living well with dementia in the community. Leicester City Council will lead on this area of work.
• A workforce fit to deliver services to support the care pathway for dementia. The Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland PCT Cluster will lead on this area of work.

DEMENTIA: THE FACTS

What is dementia?

Dementia is an umbrella term which describes a serious deterioration in mental functions, such as memory, language, orientation and judgement. There are many types, but Alzheimer's disease, which accounts for two-thirds of cases, is the most well-known. It is named after the German scientist Alois Alzheimer who identified the condition over a century ago.

How many people have been diagnosed with dementia locally?

There are currently 115,400 people over the age of 65 within Leicestershire County and Rutland and 35,600 in Leicester City. This is predicted to rise to 224,200 by 2025, an increase of 48 per cent. The increase in the elderly population is much greater in Leicestershire County and Rutland than it is in Leicester City. The following information details the number of estimated people diagnosed with dementia and the numbers predicted for the future.

Area20082025Leicestershire & Rutland7,44012,728Leicester City2,5793,272

Nationally less than half of the people with dementia receive a proper diagnosis and the Quality Outcomes Framework (QOF) data significantly under reports the prevalence of the condition. In 2009 NHS Leicestershire County and Rutland commissioned a review of Health Care for Older People with Dementia, the report estimated that only 30 per cent of possible cases were reported at GP practice level*.

Although the Dementia Registers and the Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland (LLR) diagnosis figures show an increase in the prevalence of dementia over time, 60 per cent of people living with dementia in Leicestershire and Rutland and 50 per cent in Leicester City remain undiagnosed.

* Report prepared for Leicestershire & Rutland County NHS Primary Care Trust Review of Health Care for Older People with Dementia Analysis of current pattern of commissioning and scope for efficiency and transportation, January 2009.

What is the cost of dementia to local health and social care services?

The direct cost to health and social care services in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland for people over 65 years of age with mental health problems (significant portion of this will be people living with dementia)a equates to about 67 million a year. Most of this tends to go on more complex care needs. Care home costs of 116m are shared between public funding (70 per cent) and families (30 per cent). Informal care by

Dementia and Leicestershire Adult Social Care