Bristol on the map for dementia care

Bristol Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and Avon and Wiltshire Partnership Mental Health Trust have welcomed a report that has shown that Bristol has ‘gone green’ for its work on dementia care.

Bristol’s pioneering work on dementia has been recognised in the publication ‘A State of the Nation report on Dementia Care and Support in England‘ by the Department of Health. The report highlights Bristol’s in green for positive performance in the key areas of community, hospital and future of care. This includes low waiting times for referral to a memory clinic for assessment and for subsequent diagnosis in a memory clinic. The proportion of people investigated in hospital in Bristol for signs of dementia is also very high.

Dementia has been a high priority in Bristol since the Government launched its strategy in 2009. Even before the national strategies were issued, Bristol was committed to this agenda and was one of the early adopters of in-patient psychiatric liaison for older people.

Alison Moon, Director of Transformation and Quality at Bristol CCG and a member of the Strategic Clinical Network for Dementia says: “Bristol CCG and our partners are continuing to work hard to target work on improving the quality of life for people with dementia and their families and carers.

“We are leading a shift in care that will see much more support provided closer to home and that will ensure dementia is viewed as a long term condition. We continue to work closely with partners to drive up care in all areas including when people are in hospital”

James Eldred, clinical director for Bristol Mental Health Services adds, “This is excellent news and shows the positive impact of working in partnership to tackle this serious health issue.

We are delighted that Bristol Memory Team’s running of joint assessment and diagnostic clinics and their work in supporting GPs to diagnose and treat dementia have proved so effective.”