We hosted a virtual, interactive workshop to highlight the importance of an early diagnosis and encourage collaborative discussion to help improve dementia care in the South West and South East of England.
Objective
The NHS Long Term Plan highlights the need for improved care for people with dementia, including the need for early diagnosis. Aware of fragmented dementia systems and widespread variations across the South West and South East, we worked with NHS England regional teams to understand more about the current systems and identify areas for improving the dementia pathway.
What we did
- Performed a review of dementia diagnosis rates across both regions to better understand the national and regional picture.
- Carried out an evidence scope to better understand the importance of an early diagnosis and what factors may be causing the variations in dementia diagnosis across the two regions. This included looking at various studies as well as some innovative examples of improvement initiatives both in and out of the identified regions.
- Developed four case studies highlighting best practices around dementia diagnosis identified in the scope.
- These esources were used to prompt discussions at a virtual workshop held in March 2023. This was attended by 67 people, including staff from across the NHS, local authorities, and the voluntary sector as well as service users.
- The workshop also included a presentation from NHS England’s national dementia team on national priorities for dementia.
- Attendees engaged in an exercise to explore the benefits and challenges, overcoming barriers to an early diagnosis.
Activity
Mental health - enabling solutions
Encouraged collaboration to improve dementia care in the South West and South East of England
Data driven decision making
Communications and engagement
Engaged with stakeholders to understand the benefits, challenges, and barriers to an early diagnosis
Clinical effectiveness
Outcome
The virtual workshop started the conversation and encouraged collaborative thinking around improving the dementia pathway. In the long term, the improved pathway will promote earlier dementia diagnosis and better support people with dementia in the community, including by providing personalised support at the right time.
