1. The National Dementia Declaration lists seven outcomes that the DAA are seeking to achieve for people with dementia and their carers. How would you describe your organisation’s role in delivering better outcomes for people with dementia and their carers? 

Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust serves a population of approximately 1.2 million people with an estimated 192,000 people over 65 years of age.  

The care of patients with dementia is currently delivered on the Specialist Elderly Care wards with daily input from colleagues in Mental Health, Social Services and Therapies. We have recently established a multidisciplinary Dementia Care Program Board to ensure we deliver high standards of service for people with Dementia and their carers. The Dementia Program Board has membership from health, social care, voluntary and public sectors and is therefore truly representative of the needs of people with dementia living in our locality.  

With our partnership organisations, we have been actively involved in developing a regional Dementia Blueprint that will allow us to deliver person-centred care that focuses on living well with Dementia. 

We aim to provide safe, high quality, effective care for every person with dementia delivered as an integrated pathway across acute, primary and community care teams. 

2. What are the challenges to delivering these outcomes from the perspective of your organisation?  

The challenges we face in delivering these outcomes are:  

Raising Awareness:  

Currently under 3000 people in our locality are registered as having dementia. As Hull and East Riding of Yorkshire have two of the lowest diagnostic rates in the UK , this is likely to be a significant underestimate. Without early assessment and diagnosis many people with dementia will unfortunately miss the opportunity for intervention. Raising awareness of both Dementia and how people can access services is a major challenge locally.  

Education and Training  

Currently optional dementia training exists through both our Trust and the regions Dementia Academy . Uptake in these training opportunities remains low. There is also a lack of professional understanding that much can be learned about dementia care.  

Inter-agency Dependency  

The success of our service depends on strong partnership working between ourselves and other local organisations.  Logistically this can present a significant challenge.