Agenda item

Lucy Noon gave a brief overview of the Dementia Strategy. The report was a useful starting document as a dementia strategy was required by April 2021 under the NHS 5 Year Forward View. Further development would take place across Herefordshire and Worcestershire.

Dementia was a significant challenge within the two Counties due to an aging population and more than 12,000 people were affected. During a review carried out in September 2017 it was discovered that GPs underperform against the Dementia Diagnosis rate and moving individuals onto Individual Pathways. The service GPs provide was generally good but more could be done to ensure a more consistent approach, for example, the effect a busy waiting area and having to negotiate on-line help could have on people. An integrated response to services was required for carers, people with dementia and their families.

Previous Strategies were being refreshed and workshops had taken place with health bodies but other statutory organisations such as the County Council still needed to be consulted. Following further work on the strategy the completed document would go back to the STP Board.

The key messages were detailed including:

·       Focus on prevention

·       Building dementia friendly communities

·       Identifying champions

·       Greater support for carers

·       Building on identification and diagnosis

·       Greater recognition of palliative care

The key challenges included:

·       The stigma and fear about dementia

·       Increasing demand due to an ageing population

·       Complexity owing to co-morbidity

·       Capacity pressures in care homes, home care and respite care

·       Financial constraints

The HWB Board were not being asked to approve the strategy at this point. The action plan was in draft form and a number of partners named in it had not yet been fully involved. The key actions were to improve the support offered to family and friends of people with dementia, improve dementia care provided by care homes and improve care for those with advanced dementia living at home.

During the ensuing discussion the following main points were made:

·       There were already examples of good practice and some authorities had been designated ‘Dementia Friendly’ so it was important to learn from them

·       District Councils were responsible for planning issues, so they needed to be involved more fully in developing the strategy. They already provided some initiatives such as Dementia Towns, Cafes and supermarkets. Some Parish Councils had also set up activities and the Diocese were working on Dementia Friendly Churches. It was important that they contribute to the strategy and signpost what was already available

·       Once the initial diagnosis had occurred; the process of which was recognised as being sensitive in itself; the situation should be de-medicalised to allow people to live well with dementia

·       The opportunity and decision to engage more widely with the people of Worcestershire was welcomed

·       There needed to be more focus on how people could reduce the risk of getting dementia in the first place, and this included stopping smoking, being a healthy weight, drinking only to safe levels and increasing physical activity

·       The Dementia Action Alliance was recognised as being active, and it was noted that GPs could develop social prescribing more fully to help people to live well with dementia as well as with prevention

·       The Adult Services Business Plan contained a theme of Community resilience which included living with dementia in the community. The aim was for a more integrated approach to community resilience across the different tiers of local government as well as across wider partners

·       Harrison Marsh from the Alzheimer’s Society explained that guides were available for smaller councils. The guides covered rural areas and sport and leisure and contained advice on how to help people with dementia

·       The STP and the Health and Well-being Strategy both have a commitment to work in an integrated way to improve the health of people within Worcestershire and to shift towards a stronger emphasis on prevention. Improvement on uptake of the GP NHS health checks programme would impact on reducing cardio-vascular risk and thus the risk of vascular dementia.

RESOLVED that the Health and Well-being Board:

a)     noted and supported the on-going work to produce a dementia strategy; and

b)    recognised that the event on 12 March would mark the launch of the next phase of the work where it was expected co-production, integration and prevention would be addressed.