Patient waiting times have been cut and engagement enhanced with friends and family following the decision to give Help and Care dementia care staff access to the Dorset Care Record (DCR).
As part of Dorset HealthCare’s revised dementia care pathway service, health and care staff that were working for the Alzheimer’s Society were brought in last year to provide post-diagnostic support for people with a diagnosis of dementia, and their families and carers. This includes a dedicated early Onset (younger) dementia provision, as well as county-wide dementia roadshows, offering information on dementia to local people and agencies.
Julie Nicklin, Help and Care dementia triage coordinator, said her team have really benefitted from the introduction of the DCR: “We triage referrals from a range of organisations, including GP surgery link workers, Dorset HealthCare’s Memory Assessment Service (MAS) and social prescribers.
“Having the DCR has given us the ability to have more information that in the past wasn’t always sent to us. We can only help people with a dementia diagnosis, so for example, if a person moved into the county having been diagnosed elsewhere, say Sussex, we would need a medical summary from a GP, detailing for example what type of dementia they had – vascular, frontotemporal or Alzheimer’s and that has not always been easy to get. It also gives us insight into other people who are involved that we can’t always see on the RIO system we use.”
Julie said that by having the information in the shared care record we can also see their medical history – if they have gone in for respite care or are in a permanent care home setting, which enables us to discharge a patient.
Health and Care dementia staff use the RIO system and by logging into the DCR, Julie said they have more clarity about the patient’s health journey, enabling them to provide greater support to the person with dementia and their family. “It is a brilliant service for us – one that saves time, provides us with greater knowledge and helps us support the person and their family,” she added.
Help and Care is one of the first tertiary partners (organisations that have contractual obligations with our core partners) to be given access, following training, to the DCR.
Invaluable platform
Des Persse, Help and Care director of services, said: “The Help and Care Dementia Coordinator Service went live in April 2021, as part of the revised dementia pathway for Dorset. The DCR has been an invaluable platform during this period for our practitioners, as services and referrals returned to full capacity post pandemic.
“Patients with a dementia diagnosis and their loved ones, require an efficient and bespoke experience when dealing with considerable change in their lives. Our integration with the DCR programme has brought an enhanced customer service element to our engagement, minimising waiting times for patients and acting as a single point of contact for our staff when they need information to inform their work.
“The scale of the team’s utilisation of the DCR is testament to its effectiveness in their busy schedules. Thanks to all at DCR that have worked hard on our behalf to bring a quality offer to the people of Dorset,” he added.
- Further information about the Memory Assessment Service can be found at – Dorset HealthCare :: Memory Assessment Service (MAS)
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