Health and Social Care

Have Your Say on Scotland’s Third National Dementia Strategy

October 26, 2015 by Linda White 1 Comment | Category Dementia

Scotland’s second three year National Dementia Strategy was launched in 2013 with the aim of continuing to improve diagnosis rates and post-diagnostic support, ensuring the highest quality of care and support for people with dementia at every stage of the illness, improving service response in acute care and supporting the growth of dementia-friendly communities.

Key Priorities

Our key priorities include:

• Improving diagnosis rates and post diagnostic support: Scotland’s first national dementia diagnosis target was introduced in 2008 and met nationally. Partly as a result of that, between around 50-65% of people with dementia in Scotland have a recorded diagnosis. This is on a par with Northern Ireland and ahead of England and, in particular, Wales (approximately 8% and 25% difference respectively). We have in place our world leading post diagnostic support offer for everyone newly diagnosed with dementia, which comprises a minimum of a year’s worth of dedicated support coordinated by a named and trained Link Worker. This ground-breaking service is designed to give people with dementia and their families time and space, with expert support, to understand the illness, connect better to the range of services and support available and plan early for future care options, including palliative and end of life care.
• Improving care of people with dementia in hospital settings: We are currently working with Healthcare Improvement Scotland to extend and enhance the current improvement and scrutiny programmes in place in acute hospitals to include non-acute hospitals (community hospitals and continuing care) and specialist mental health in-patient dementia settings.
• Investing in up skilling the dementia workforce across health and social care: Scotland’s first national dementia workforce skills and competencies framework Promoting Excellence was published in 2011, together with the first Standards of Care for Dementia in Scotland. The Scottish Government continues to provide funding for the implementation of Promoting Excellence, which spans education, pre-registration training and ongoing staff development and covers the range of dementia care, from post-diagnostic support to palliative care.
• Integration This major public service reform will channel pooled health and social care resources more effectively, over time releasing savings in the acute end of NHS care for re-investment in more community-based services. As part of this reform agenda, with partners including COSLA and Alzheimer Scotland, we are testing Alzheimer’s Scotland’s proposed service model for intensive, home-based dementia care and support in 5 areas of Scotland – Moray, Highland, Glasgow City, North Lanarkshire and Midlothian

Future Priorities

The Scottish Government is now reviewing the progress of this strategy and a third National Dementia Strategy for Scotland will be produced in 2016. A National Dementia Dialogue consultation process, which will include an enhanced focus on issues around providing advanced, palliative and end of life dementia care, will take place in November and December 2015 with free events (detailed below) running across Scotland. This will be an excellent opportunity for all interested parties across Scotland to comment on the progress of the strategy to date, identify the gaps, opportunities and priorities and to help shape the direction of the next strategy.

Upcoming Events

National Dementia Dialogue 2015: Have Your Say: 3 December 2015, The Sheraton Grand Hotel & Spa, Edinburgh

This is an opportunity for all interested parties across Scotland to comment on the progress of the strategy to date, identify the gaps, opportunities and priorities and to help shape the direction of the next strategy. If you have experience of dementia – as a person diagnosed, a family member, carer, or as a health, social care or housing professional or service manager and commissioner – we particularly welcome your views and participation at this event.

To book your space email: NationalDementiaDialogue2015@gov.scot by Monday 30 November 2015.

National Dementia Dialogue events 2015: Have Your Say Regional Events

There are still spaces to join the Fort William and Dumfries and Galloway events. Please note that these events are filling up fast and places are allocated on a first come, first served basis. 

Organised in partnership by the Scottish Government, Alzheimer Scotland, the Scottish Dementia Working Group and the National Dementia Carers Action Network.

Fort William – 25 November: The Ben Nevis Hotel, North Road, Fort William

Dumfries – 14 December: Easterbrook Hall, The Crichton, Bankend Road, Dumfries

For more information, please contact Kiran Haksar.

Tags: Dementia, Policy, Priorities, scotland, Scotland's National Dementia Strategy, Update

Comments

• SEO says:

  27 October 2015 at 8:53 am

  Such a Dementia Policy must be enforced into the England as well. Its so sorry feeling that so many people tend to suffer.

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