New research from Healthwatch County Durham reveals that a speedy diagnosis, and being able to access specialist support quickly, makes a great difference to the wellbeing of people with dementia and their families.
A new report from the organisation, which speaks up for all those who use health and social care, also highlights how health professionals could improve how they signpost to the wealth of dementia support groups in the county.
The Healthwatch report – published to coincide with Dementia Action Week 2019 – is based on feedback from people with direct experience of local dementia services. Fifty surveys with people with dementia were completed online or face-to-face as part of the research and the majority of the respondents (80%) were happy with the support they received. However, around a quarter (24%) said they did not feel supported by their GP.
Nearly all the people with dementia who took part in the research had been referred by their GP to other services but for almost half (45%) these referrals took longer than four weeks, which they said made their dementia journey more difficult.
The experience of one carer – “Dave” – is highlighted in the report to demonstrate how local independent support groups and services are helping people with dementia to live well. However, “Dave”, like many others Healthwatch spoke to, discovered these on the recommendation of friends and family, because professionals had not signposted him to them.
Based on all the first-hand experiences received, the report concludes the speed of diagnosis and referrals can make a huge difference to the lives of people with dementia and those around them.
Neil Jarvis, strategic commissioning manager for adult and health services at Durham County Council, and chair of the Dementia Strategy Implementation Group, welcomed the Healthwatch report. He said: “We have made dementia one of our priorities so having good feedback on that is great for us.
“Clearly the main issue to come out of this for future work is the need for speedy referral into support services and the role of the NHS in that process. Though we have done quite a lot of work on that already we definitely need to make sure we keep the focus on it in future as a priority.
“As we move to integrated commissioning with the NHS it can only help with knitting services together and making sure the whole system works for people.”
For more information on this story contact Marianne Patterson, project lead for Healthwatch County Durham, on 0191 378 1037.
For more general information about Healthwatch County Durham visit healthwatchcountydurham.co.uk
