During dementia awareness week this year our dementia teams helped to raise the profile of dementia at the trust even more, with a range of activities held at each hospital.

Becky Lambert, dementia lead, and Doris Ajayi, dementia skills facilitator, presented at the chief executive briefings in May to remind staff of issue and about the work they carry out.  

Becky said: “With the prevalence of dementia continuing to rise, there is still a lot of work to do to improve the quality of care provided to people with dementia.  Now identified as a trust priority alongside carers and cancer, the trust acknowledges that if we can get it right for people with dementia, we can get it right for everyone.

“Because of this, an additional eight dementia volunteers have been trained to join our ‘reach out for dementia volunteers scheme.’ The volunteers are currently available at the Royal Free Hospital but will soon be able to assist at Barnet Hospital and Chase Farm Hospital too.”

Dementia information stands were available at all of our hospitals during the week and over 150 leaflets on dementia were distributed to hospital visitors. Team members had the chance to meet and discuss concerns for loved ones and were on hand to inform those who wanted to find out more.

The week also saw the launch of the new dementia portal on the trust’s intranet, Freenet, where staff can find out more about dementia, read guidance on managing complex care needs and access the dates for dementia training. Extra resources have been purchased to support patients with dementia in the hospital setting for our health services for elderly people wards.

Becky continues: “Many staff accessed the UCLP dementia podcasts during dementia week, learning about supporting patients after a diagnosis and how to create dementia friendly hospitals. This is great as it shows staff are wanting to engage more in the subject and are willing to use approved tools to enhance their learning.”

Finally Becky, along with Danielle Wilde, dementia specialist occupational therapist, presented at the patient safety awards judging panel on the dementia CAPER project, which has been shortlisted for a national award.

Find out more about how to get training, resources, guidance and information by visiting the dementia portal on Freenet or by contacting Becky or Doris by email on becky.lambert@nhs.net or doris.ajayi@nhs.net.