National dementia audit released

The National Audit of Dementia (NAD), part of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, has lately released its fourth annual audit into care in general hospitals for people with dementia. There are 850,000 people living with dementia in the UK. This is expected to rise to one million by 2025 and continue to increase to two million by 2051. Dementia costs the UK economy £26.3 billion a year and is a significant challenge for the NHS with an estimated 25% of acute beds occupied by people with dementia.The National Audit of Dementia (NAD) is a clinical audit programme commissioned by the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership on behalf of NHS England and the Welsh Government, looks at quality of care received by people with dementia in general hospitals. This report presents Round 4’s results.[caption id="attachment_1238" align="alignnone" width="713"] Infographics and statistics provided by the report[/caption]Scores from each hospital are derived from key themes and are shown in comparison to the scores from Round 3.

There are several areas where improvement has been made:

• 96% of hospitals in England and Wales now have a system in place for more flexible family visiting;
• a large number (88%) of carers (and/or patients) receive a copy of the discharge plan;
• more staff report being able to access finger food or snacks for patients with dementia.

Key areas for improvement include striving to ensure that

• more hospitals assess for delirium
• any member of staff involved in the care of people with dementia has training relevant to their grade which includes identification and management of delirium. This training should be recorded to provide assurance to the public and regulators.

The audits’ focus on care and support for people with dementia is one of the 10 priorities identified by NHS England;s ‘Five Year Forward View’ whilst the Welsh Government’s Dementia Action Plan 2018-222 emphasises the importance of providing high quality dignified care for people with dementia.With both England and Wales making the care and support of people with dementia a priority it is hoped that the key improvement areas highlighted by the report can form the basis of action across the board, and that Round 5 next year will continue to see improvements in care.Infographics and statistics all provided by the report, accessible online:Report