Agenda item

James Cawley, Associate Director Wiltshire Council, and Dr Ted Wilson, Manager CCG NEW, will present a report on the draft Wiltshire Dementia Strategy 2014-2021 consultation (which ends on 19 May) and provide further details of the dementia friendly communities campaign ‘Before I Forget’.

James Cawley, Associate Director Wiltshire Council, and Dr Ted Wilson, Group Director CCG, presented the draft Wiltshire Dementia Strategy report which included details of the strategy consultation which ended on 19 May.

The Board were made aware that by 2020 there was expected to be a 30% increase in the number of dementia sufferers in the UK and that the draft strategy had been developed as a result of listening to those with dementia as well as those who provided support.

The consultation identified memory service and telecare as areas that were doing well but care in hospital and support for carers as areas that could be improved.

The key message arising from initial findings was that dementia was the responsibility of everyone and that dementia friendly communities were important to ensure sufferers were able to live at home and within the community, a requirement identified by dementia sufferers.

In response the ‘Before I Forget’ campaign to make communities dementia friendly, had been launched in the Royal Wootton Bassett and Cricklade area and was being rolled out across the whole of the County. 

Consultation responses indicated that people were in general positive and supportive of the direction and commissioning intentions of the strategy but that rural communities, where isolation often occurred, should be a focus for further work.  Listening to and involving carers and families and reducing the stigma associated with dementia were also identified as areas for focus.

The redraft of the Strategy would be submitted to the CCG and WC governing bodies once the full findings of the consultation had been considered.  Once approved, implementation of the final strategy would be overseen by the Dementia Delivery Board.

Ongoing engagement and consultation facilitated by Healthwatch Wiltshire was being planned and packs for dementia friendly communities were made available for attendees to take away with them.

Reference was made to the ‘safe places’ scheme which was being rolled out across the county following initial pilots in Salisbury, Devizes and Swindon and required businesses to sign up to provide a safe place for vulnerable people.   

Details of the ‘missing people’ programme was also mentioned noting that a significant proportion of those reported as missing were dementia sufferers.

The Board recognised the need for a joined up approach to the support services in place and requested that further details on the differing programmes taking place (including ‘Safe Places’ and ‘Missing Persons Programme’) should be presented at the next meeting.  Noting that a monthly newsletter had been launched by Wiltshire Council on dementia it was suggested that further details on the varying programmes could also be highlighted within this.

The attending Vice Chairman of the Health Select Committee was supportive of a one point of contact approach and indicated the importance of ensuring the right funding stream was in place to meet the increasing demands on the service.

The Select Committee response on the strategy had included a requirement to strengthen some areas and the Committee awaited further details for review in due course.

The Chairman thanked the officers for the information provided and confirmed that the Board looked forward to receiving details of the final strategy and various dementia programmes taking place at its next meeting in July.