Dementia review helps 17,000 people in Lancashire

9:58am Monday 10th December 2012 in News

A PUBLIC consultation into a shake-up of specialist dementia services in Lancashire has been launched.

More than 17,000 people are thought to be living with dementia in the county.

NHS Lancashire and Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust have now launched the 12-week consulation to consider two options which will affect the services they access in the future.

Residents, healthcare professionals and other interested parties have all been asked for their opinions.

The first option proposes a single site in Blackpool with extensive community services while the second suggests two sites in Blackpool and Blackburn with reduced community services.

NHS Lancashire chief executive Janet Soo-Chung said: “With thousands of people living with dementia across Lancashire and with cases expected to rise, the amended services must be able to cope with this future increase.”

There are currently 17,607 people aged 65 and over in Lancashire with dementia and at least 317 people in Lancashire under 65.

Numbers are expected to increase to 25,611 by 2025.

Dr Amanda Thornton, clinical director for adult community services at Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust, said: “The aim is to provide a robust network of care that enables people with dementia to be supported in their usual place of residence for as long as possible.

“There is a strong evidence to suggest that this is the most effective way to care for people and that better outcomes and quality of life can be achieved through such an approach.

“A huge amount of investment has been made developing community teams to enable people to be cared for at home which means fewer people with dementia require a hospital admission.

“Specialist hospital beds will be available for those people who require one.”

The consultation document and survey are available on lancashire mentalhealth.co.uk

Comments (3)

12:10pm Mon 10 Dec 12

mavrick says...

What a nice way to not say we are cutting services. It is O.K for the health professionals to suggest that people with dementia are better off at home. If you have ever lived with a person suffering dementia, I can assure you when the point comes that they need to be put into a specialised home, The red tape is awful, the support is scant. It is a distressing situation all round. The costs are beyond the pale, There should be specialist care homes around the county where this kind of care can be offered, Like it used to be.
What a nice way to not say we are cutting services. It is O.K for the health professionals to suggest that people with dementia are better off at home. If you have ever lived with a person suffering dementia, I can assure you when the point comes that they need to be put into a specialised home, The red tape is awful, the support is scant. It is a distressing situation all round. The costs are beyond the pale, There should be specialist care homes around the county where this kind of care can be offered, Like it used to be. mavrick

10:55am Fri 14 Dec 12

bbgal says...

Lancashire care are trying to hoodwink people Into believing that a single site option will be the best and make the two site option sound much less of an attractive option. It's all down to cost in reality. Whilst the top dogs like Heather Tierney Moore are milking massive pay increases They want to cut inpatient dementia services to a single site which will not have enough beds to serve the county. Figures have been manipulated to justify closing wards with patients having to spend weeks out of area. For older people with dementia this has a significant detrimental effect on the person and their family having to face extra traveling. The trust Needs to face facts dementia is increasing in the population of Lancashire and they should be investing appropriately. People with dementia need to be cared for at home as long as possible no one is arguing with that but there are times when only specialist inpatient care will do and then the person needs to be as close to their home and family as possible. By opting for one site at Blackpool the traveling time for families will increase and be far more difficult. Most spouses of people with dementia are elderly and have health issues themselves so to expect them to have to travel to Blackpool is completely unfair. Inpatient services are still desperately needed and are highly specialized so face facts and invest in both community and inpatient services and stop trying to con the public by making out community services will suffer if you invest in community services. That is not a fair and just way to get your own way.
Lancashire care are trying to hoodwink people Into believing that a single site option will be the best and make the two site option sound much less of an attractive option. It's all down to cost in reality. Whilst the top dogs like Heather Tierney Moore are milking massive pay increases They want to cut inpatient dementia services to a single site which will not have enough beds to serve the county. Figures have been manipulated to justify closing wards with patients having to spend weeks out of area. For older people with dementia this has a significant detrimental effect on the person and their family having to face extra traveling. The trust Needs to face facts dementia is increasing in the population of Lancashire and they should be investing appropriately. People with dementia need to be cared for at home as long as possible no one is arguing with that but there are times when only specialist inpatient care will do and then the person needs to be as close to their home and family as possible. By opting for one site at Blackpool the traveling time for families will increase and be far more difficult. Most spouses of people with dementia are elderly and have health issues themselves so to expect them to have to travel to Blackpool is completely unfair. Inpatient services are still desperately needed and are highly specialized so face facts and invest in both community and inpatient services and stop trying to con the public by making out community services will suffer if you invest in community services. That is not a fair and just way to get your own way. bbgal

10:58am Fri 14 Dec 12

bbgal says...

Sorry should have said making the public believe community services will suffer if you invest in ' inpatient ' services.
Sorry should have said making the public believe community services will suffer if you invest in ' inpatient ' services. bbgal

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