Pledge made on dementia service

The Julian Hospital.

27 November 2009 17:00



People with dementia can expect major improvements in the coming months as a number of new developments for older people take place, according to health bosses.

Progress made on older people's mental health services - which includes a new dementia strategy - were outlined in front of an influential committee yesterday .

The Norfolk Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (HOSC) heard from Stephen McCormick, commissioning manager for NHS Norfolk about the “Living with Dementia” strategy, a consultation that runs for three months starting on November 30.

The aim of the strategy is to improve the lives of people with dementia in care homes and hospitals, improve diagnosis rates and support for carers and increase specialist help.

He said: “We are aiming at tackling under diagnosis of dementia and provide a higher quality of care in homes where one third of dementia patients live.

“The message is that we want help from people in setting up this strategy and hope people will tell us what they want through this consultation.”

Currently it is estimated that there are 700,000 people in the UK with dementia at a cost of £17bn to the economy and the numbers are set to double in the next 20 years.

In 2008 there were more than 13,000 people over the age of 65 with dementia and a staggering rise of 62pc is expected by 2025 when there could be more than 20,300 people living with the condition.

Another move which has been touted by health bosses as a “significant change” is the relocation of dementia services. Patients from the Octagon Day Centre at Hellesdon Hospital have been moved to the Julian Hospital on Bowthorpe Road, Norwich.

Bosses said the work carried out at the centre accounted for only 0.1pc of the dementia population in Norfolk and more patients would benefit at the new location.

Hugo de Waal , consultant psychiatrist at the Norfolk and Waveney Mental Health Trust, told the committee it had been “successful so far”.

“There were 12 patients at the Octagon Centre but now there are 15 being looked after at the Julian Hospital and a further 22 using outreach services,” he said.

“The move has freed up staff and enabled us to treble our patients receiving dementia care.”

He also spoke about the plan to build a £13.7m specialist dementia intensive care unit to cope with our ageing population and increase in dementia cases.

The investment is the largest made by the Norfolk and Waveney Mental Health Trust, and will include 36 beds set to open in the winter of 2011/2012.

The HOSC welcomed the changes and asked that they are updated on progress in the next three months.

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