Dementia Award win for excellent care support
An award recognising excellent care given to patients with dementia has been handed out to the Trust's Learning Disability, Autism and Dementia team.
The team from Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust attended the Dementia Care Awards ceremony in London, where they were announced as winners of the Dementia Change Agent category.
The award recognises the effort they put in to training Trust staff, so they are better equipped to support patients across its Basildon, Southend and Broomfield hospitals.
The training covers a variety of topics to support understanding of dementia, and enhance dementia care including dementia awareness, identification, assessment and diagnosis, risk reduction and prevention, person-centred dementia care, communication, interaction and behaviour, health and well-being, pharmacological interventions, living well with dementia, promoting independence, and families and carers as partners in dementia care.
Monthly Trust-wide Dementia Hubs have also been introduced, which provide support, information, and advice for people with dementia and their families and carers, and also act as a focal point and safe space for staff to seek support. The increased visibility of the team through these Hubs has supported them to develop awareness of dementia amongst staff in both clinical and non-clinical areas.
Claire Turner, Learning Disability, Autism and Dementia Lead, said: “Winning the Dementia Change Agent award is testament to the amazing work this team does for our patients, their families and carers. We have two tiers of training for staff and Tier 1 has had 88% of relevant staff taking part, meaning over 14,000 staff have completed it.
“And over 50% of relevant staff have completed Tier 2, which is over 4,000 staff, all of which now means more staff than ever from across all areas of the Trust are better equipped to help patients with dementia and their loved ones.”
The team were also finalists in the Dementia Care Innovator category and Jane Gilby, Admiral Nurse, was a finalist in the Admiral Nurse Award category.