Whether you have a dementia diagnosis, or care for someone who has one, there are local services that can support you practically and emotionally.
Admiral Nurses are specialist dementia nurses who give expert practical, clinical and emotional support to families living with dementia to help them cope.
They are registered nurses, and have significant experience of working with people with dementia before becoming an Admiral Nurse.
Most work for the NHS in communities, helping people with dementia to stay at home for longer. They also work in other settings, including care homes, hospitals and hospices.
How can an Admiral Nurse help me?
If you have a diagnosis of dementia or you are a family carer of someone who does, an Admiral Nurse can:
- provide specialist practical advice, and emotional and psychological support from diagnosis to post bereavement, helping you deal with your feelings and learn coping strategies
- be your single point of contact, helping to join up different parts of the health and social care system and meeting your needs in a coordinated way
- give you the knowledge to understand dementia and its effects, and the skills to improve how you communicate with someone living with dementia.
- offer advice on referrals to other services and liaise with health and social care professionals on your behalf, sharing best practice with them so you get the best care possible
- support you at difficult times in your dementia journey, including when the condition progresses, or when tough decisions need to be made, such as moving a family member into residential care.
TO CONTACT AN ADMIRAL NURSE WHO COVERS THE PRACTICE AREA PLEASE TELEPHONE 0300 123 1734 BETWEEN 10am AND 2pm ON MONDAY TUESDAY THURSDAY OR FRIDAY AND BETWEEN 12noon AND 2pm ON WEDNESDAY. AT OTHER TIMES YOU CAN LEAVE YOUR DETAILS AND A NURSE WILL CONTACT YOU
For more information on Dementia please go, here.
Spotlight on Learning Disability Primary care Liaison Nurse.
NHS England Learning Disability newsletter, here.
www.hacw.nhs.uk
The Primary Care Liaison Nurse is a specialist learning disability practitioner who has the knowledge and skills to provide training, advice and support for Primary Care staff in meeting the health needs of people with a learning disability.
How do you access the service?
Your Primary Care Liaison Nurse is employed for 15 hours a week by Worcestershire health and care NHS trust.
Kay Dalloway
Adult and Community Services07918748469
kdalloway@nhs.net
PO Box 5118
Kidderminster
Worcs
DY10 1AB
You can access further information on the Health and care trust external website for both Primary Care liaison and acute care liaison for people with a learning disability.
www.hacw.nhs.uk/our-services/primary-care-liaison-learning-disabilities/
www.hacw.nhs.uk/our-services/acute-liaison-learning-disabilities/
What do I do?
I work in partnership and directly with GP practices and Primary Care staff to support in meeting the health needs of people with a learning disability.
I support GP practices to deliver big health aim number one, “My GP practice”, as part of the “My Worcestershire health plan”. “Better health outcomes for people with a learning disability”. (Delivery plan 2013-2016)
www.worcestershire.gov.uk/mylifemyhealthThis includes directives from the Learning disability strategy.www.worcestershire.gov.uk/ldstrategy
I support GP practices to better understand the evidence based information both locally and nationally that support the need for completion of annual health checks.
I support the link nurse role within your GP practice.
I provide access to easy read, accessible information for GP practices to use. This includes: Invite letter, including carer information. Having a health check. My annual health check. Practice leaflet. How to complain leaflet. Staying healthy, feeling good. My hospital booklet/hospital passport.
I support Primary Care staff to have informed and better links with the adult and community services learning disability team, community nurses, acute liaison nurse and social work team and how to refer to this service.
What can you expect?
A dedicated and responsive service that aims to build closer links between Community Learning Disability Services and Primary Care. To provide evidence on the importance of annual health checks and how to deliver the health checks and reduce health inequality.
Acute Liaison Nurses
Your acute liaison nurses are:
Kay Dalloway
(22.5 hours a week)
07918748469
Jane Bullock
(37.5 hours a week)
07767442222
Both Kay and Jane cover the Alexandra hospital in Redditch and Worcestershire Royal Hospital.
The acute liaison nurses receive 40-50 referrals every month. Most are admited through accident and emergency.
- We collect admission data. We know the four main reasons for hospital admission. They are:
- Urinary tract infection
- Chest infection (often from aspiration with eating and drinking difficulties)
- Complex epilepsy
- Constipation
These are, in some cases, preventable and the health checks can contribute to inappropriate or preventable hospital admission.
GP practice registers now include people with a learning disability from the age of 14 years onwards. (Direct enhance service guidance)
We have just under 2,000 names on the GP practice registers countrywide. All these names are put on an oasis alert within the acute trust hospital management system. This means the acute liaison nurses for people with a learning disability receive a text message and e-mail to alert them to a hospital admission for someone with a learning disability. Ensuring a prompt service.
Please contact the acute liaison nurse team direct on their mobile if your relative/patient is being admitted to hospital, either planned or unplanned.
Regular Health Checks for Patients with learning diasbilities – please watch the film below for more information.