Agenda item

This is an information report providing an update to Overview and Scrutiny Committee members on the changes to dementia support services. It sets out the latest findings of the revised dementia chapter of the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment and makes recommendations that will improve the quality of life experienced by those people living in Medway living with dementia both now and into the future. 

Discussion:

The Assistant Director, Partnership Commissioning, and the Interim Commissioning Manager introduced the report on dementia services to meet future needs and responded to Members’ questions.

The Interim Commissioning Manager explained that he had spent the last five months talking about dementia and that September was World Dementia month.  He then set out the backdrop to the production of the dementia strategy and explained that the cost of dementia services was higher than the cost of treating cancer, heart disease and stroke.  Currently there were approximately 835,000 in the UK suffering from dementia, 700,000 people in England and 40,000 of those were 65 or below in age.  The cost is currently £26 billion a year but is set to rise.

Members were keen to ensure that the document was extended to include specific actions and costings and that these would be shared across all Committees of the Council and finally the Cabinet.  The Assistant Director, Partnership Commissioning confirmed that this document was the start of a process and that more detail would be available at a later stage.

Concern was expressed about the reference in the document to the National statement that GPs felt unprepared to deal with the new focus on dementia.  The Chief Clinical Officer explained that until relatively recently there had been no medical treatments for dementia, and that even now those treatments tended to slow decline rather than produce marked improvements.  Equally patients and families had often delayed seeking help.  In respect of vascular and mixed dementia, he referred to work the CCG were doing to reduce the risk of vascular dementia and referred to the Familial Hypercholesterolaemia work done by the CCG and recently published by HEART UK about the measures which could be taken to prevent dementia particularly following a diagnosis of vascular disease, diabetes etc. 

http://heartuk.org.uk/files/uploads/09-14_HEART_UK_Medway_report.pdf

He encouraged Members to do what they could to reduce the stigma of dementia in Medway and referred to a map of medicine tool used by local GPs, which helped them to navigate routes of referral and support to patients.

Following a Member request the Assistant Director, Partnership Commissioning agreed to include Parish Councils, possibly through the Rural Liaison Committee, in consultation on dementia services recognising their valuable role in community support.  Members were keen to ensure that the whole Council and the community of Medway take a joint responsibility for dementia services and dementia awareness.

Members emphasised the important role of carers particularly when they were no longer able to care for their relative at home and they were admitted to residential care.

The Chief Clinical Officer commended the document and stated that it was a good example of how partnership commissioning was working in Medway.

Further to a question the Director of Children and Adults stated that she did not believe details were available of any young carers who were living with someone with dementia but did suggest that there might be an opportunity to introduce the subject of dementia care into Personal Health Social and Economic Education (PSHE) lessons in schools.

In response to a query the Assistant Director, Partnership Commissioning stated that the consultation period on the document would be extended to 30 November 2014 and undertook to bring the report back to the Committee with detailed actions and costings at a later date.

 Decision:

(a)   The Committee noted and supported the update on the changes to dementia support services and the recommendation in the draft Strategy made to improve the quality of life for people living with dementia in Medway;

(b)   A further report showing detailed costings and recommendations should be submitted to this Committee as part of wider consultation across the Council and prior to submission to the Cabinet.