GPs will be expected to lead on a new dementia diagnosis specialist service currently being trialled across England.
The new local dementia drive will see GPs share a list of care home residents who do not have a dementia diagnosis with the pilot service.
Specialist nurses and other healthcare professionals associated with the 14 pilot schemes – which are being rolled out in the new year – will then assess those residents via a full face-to-face assessment.
The clinician will also review the person’s use of medication and will meet with their family to help determine if they have dementia.
It comes after the number of diagnoses for the condition dropped rapidly during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Two pilots will be launched in each of England’s seven regions, with NHS England investing £900,000 in total.
The fourteen pilots spread across the country will be launched from January following the successful trial in Norfolk, through which 95 residents of 100 assessed were diagnosed with dementia.
Mark MacDonald, associate director of advocacy and system change at Alzheimer’s Society, said: ‘Knowing someone has dementia can transform their care, ensuring they receive the right kind of support, and that families and carers get the information and guidance they also need after a diagnosis.’
The new pilot sites will be run by the following trusts:
- Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust
- East London NHS Foundation Trust (ELFT)
- South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM)
- Central North West London Trust (CNWLT)
- Birmingham & Solihull Mental Health Trust (Bsol MHT)
- Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care Trust (H&W H&CT)
- Humber FT
- Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust – North Community Locality
- Cheshire and Wirral Partnership Trust (CWP) in collaboration with Age UK Wirral (CWPT)
- Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust (MC FT)
- Oxford Health Foundation Trust
- Kent and Medway NHS & Social Care Partnership Trust (KMPT)
- NHS Cornwall and Isle of Scilly
- Somerset NHS Foundation Trust
