New specialist dementia team to support residents in care homes
A specialist nursing team dedicated to making sure that people living in care homes who have suspected dementia can be assessed and diagnosed quickly has been introduced across Norfolk and Waveney following a groundbreaking pilot which attracted national recognition.
Clinicians/mental health nurses at Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT), in partnership with Norfolk and Waveney Integrated Care Board (ICB), has created the Care Home Dementia Assessment Team to assess people who have difficulty with their memory or cognitive impairment. If a diagnosis of dementia is made, the team work to identify the best treatment and support to help that person, and those caring for them.
Kumar Ponnusamy, Dementia Nurse Consultant and Independent Nurse Prescriber with NSFT, said: “We are delighted that NSFT is leading the way with this work, and that this important initiative has proved such a success.
“Research suggests that around 70% of people in care homes have dementia, but many have not been formally diagnosed. A diagnosis makes a huge difference to patients as it means we can put an appropriate care plan in place and review their medication to ensure that it will meet their needs and improve their quality of life.
“We have also had some excellent feedback from families, who often know that something isn’t quite right with their loved one. If a diagnosis is confirmed, we make sure we take the time to explain to them exactly what that means, while it can also help them to understand any challenging behaviour which may have occurred in the past.
“Our aspiration is for the team to continue to grow and eventually offer formal training and teaching to care home colleagues, as well as admission avoidance services and behavioural management and crisis prevention. We hope that by offering simple advice and guidance on medication issues, for example, we could help prevent care home residents from needing a formal referral to their GP, in turn helping them get the help they need more quickly.”
The bespoke service has been introduced following a successful six-month pilot in west Norfolk in October 2021, which saw 109 people assessed for dementia, and 95 diagnosed. It has since attracted national attention, with NHS England funding a further 14 pilot sites across the country and many other areas adopting the approach. The findings of the Norfolk and Waveney pilot have also been published in the May edition of Nursing Older People journal.
The new team has been substantively funded by the ICB and is made up of a dementia nurse specialist, an administrator and four mental health nurses who will work as memory assessors.
They will initially focus on those living in care homes who are already on the Memory Assessment Service’s waiting list, as well as working with primary care colleagues to identify areas where diagnosis rates are low to help the team target the support they provide
Andrew Lillywhite, Service Manager with NSFT, added: “This service has been made possible across Norfolk and Waveney thanks to strong collaboration between our Older People’s Services and a shared desire to improve dementia care across our communities.”