NES/SSSC Dementia Programme Board

10May 2012

10:30– 1300

Alzheimer Scotland, 22 DrumsheughGardens, Edinburgh

Note of Meeting

Present:

Henry Simmons (Chair)Alzheimer Scotland

Kirsty WilsonAlzheimer Scotland

Susanne ForrestNHS Education for Scotland

Anne WatsonNHS Education for Scotland

Patricia HowieNHS Education for Scotland

Theresa DouglasNHS Education for Scotland

Ambi WildmanNHS Education for Scotland

Susan ConaghanNHS Education for Scotland

Allison ThomsonMental Welfare Commission

David RennieScottish Care

Laura GilliesSSSC

Beth HallCOSLA

Edith MacintoshCare Inspectorate

David BatchelorSDWG

Ross CampbellSDWG

Jenny DouglasSDWG

Agnes HoustonSDWG

In Attendance:

Joanne MayoNHS Education for Scotland

Wayne DuffyNHS Education for Scotland

Shereen ArabshahiNHS Education for Scotland

Apologies:

Robert ParryNHS Education for Scotland

Geraldine BienkowskiNHS Education for Scotland

Audrey TaylorNHS Education for Scotland

Margaret WhoriskeyJoint Improvement Team

Douglas PhilipsJoint Improvement Team

Hugh MastersScottish Government

David BerryScottish Government

Penny CurtisScottish Government

Elaine HunterScottish Government

Lorna HunterSkills for Health

Alison PetchIRISS

1.Welcome from the Chair

The Chair welcomed members to the meeting and a round of introductions was carried out. Apologies were noted as above. Public sector strike action also affected attendance. The Chair paid tribute to the progress made under the direction of the Programme board over the last twelve months since the launch of Promoting Excellence.

2.Minutes from the last meeting

The following corrections were made to the minutes of the previous meeting.

  • Page 3, paragraph 3 – ‘PH pointed out that NES/SSSC…’
  • Page 4, paragraph 5 – ‘SC mentioned that NES Psychology has commissioned training workshops in CST as part of which delegates received a copy of the Making a Difference training manual’
  • Page 5, paragraph 3, ‘The Psychological Interventions in Dementia team…’

Otherwise the minutes were agreed to be an accurate record.

3.Matters arising

All action points arising from the last meeting were carried out. There was also some discussion on the following points:

  • Action point 2 - a small group comprising of PH, HS, LG and AT convened to discuss Adult Protection Legislation and Dementia on Friday 4 May. The purpose of the group is to assess gaps in education and training across the workforce and provide clear guidance on the Adult Support and Protection Act. Staff knowledge and application of the AWI Act in acute general hospitals has been highlighted as an issue by the MWC and more recently by the inspection of older peoples care in acute general hospitals. To address this, a module on capacity and consent is in the process of being developed for staff in Acute Care settings and is expected to be completed by August. Whilst guidance around Power of Attorney’s (POAs) is covered in the Dementia Skilled Resource and on the Alzheimer Scotland website, it would also be helpful to have a dedicated resource on POAs.

Action: Alzheimer Scotland and SDWG will take forward the development of guidance with a specific focus on POAs.

  • Action point 3 - SDWG did receive an invitation from JIT to join the Housing Group. SDWG is considering whom to nominate as a representative.
  • Action point 4 – A pilot training programme will be developed and piloted with 30 people working in reablement teams. The training will be carried out in conjunction with JIT and will use the Dementia Skilled Resource.
  • Action point 8–A map on the NES/SSSC Promoting Excellence Workforce Infrastructure and Alzheimer Scotland Dementia Advisors has been drawn up along with Glossary of terms. The map was said to be very useful and informative. It was however highlighted that the boundary between Greater Glasgow & Clyde and NHS Highland is inaccurate and needs to be amended.

4.Updates on Developments from Group Members

Scottish Government

HS provided an update on behalf of DB who was unable to attend this meeting.

The development of the 2013 Post Diagnostic Commitment is under way. This will be continued by work in four test sites – Glasgow, East Renfrewshire, South Ayrshire and Argyll & Bute. It is expected to take around 6 months to scope out what is required to deliver the guarantee and determine the manpower resource implications. Each site has appointed an individual to map out their respective area. A technical team is also involved to assist in capturing intelligence.

The Alzheimer Society report has revealed that Scotland is outperforming England as regards Dementia diagnosis rates.

The Dementia Strategy 2 years on report will be launched at the Dementia Conference on 18 June.

A national consultation on the Integration of Adult Health and Social Care has been signed off by COSLA and will be published this week.

MWC

The Commission is undertaking a series of 400 visits across Scotland. It is also looking at issues around consent to treatment under the Adults with Incapacity Act.An interim report will be compiled over the next 3 months and will be followed by a full report in 2013.

Scottish Care

DR remarked that there was a good turnout from the independent sector in the palliative care workshop programme. DR enquired as to whether there might be a role for Dementia Champions in the Independent Sector. It was however pointed out that this role is specifically aimed at enhanced practitioners in acute general hospital settings, and, social services staff working in community based anticipatory and intermediate care teams. Therefore the programme would not be appropriate for broader use. LG suggested that the role of the Social Services Dementia Ambassador could possibly be tailored for wider application.

HS stressed that there is an onus on the independent sector to look at the materials available on dementia and match them to the promoting excellence framework in order to assess their training requirements. All staff should be educated to the dementia informed level as covered by theInformed about Dementia DVDwhich waslaunched at the previous meeting in February. The Dementia ProjectSteering Group is embarking on the production of a quarterly newsletter. This will be circulated widely via the programme board to member’s respective organisations.

Action: NES/SSSC will prepare a newsletter article to inform the workforce on the above.

Action: HS and SDWG will discuss the idea of a newsletter/flyer to generate awareness around services for dementia

COSLA

BH reported that COSLA will be holding discussions with Social Work over the next two weeks to exchange views on the Integration of Adult Health and Social Care Consultation.

SDWG

The group is working to create greater awareness about dementia throughout GP surgeries. A recent focus group meeting revealed that younger people’s needs were not being recognised, and that there is a perception amongst some health professionals that dementia is a condition that only affects older people.

SC added that the Psychological Interventions in Dementia Team is about to launch a Training Needs analysis with psychologists who work with younger adults or in non age limited services. This will explore their skills in recognising the onset of dementia.

HS pointed out that GPs on average may only see one or two people a year who have developed dementia and therefore lack exposure to people affected by the condition. Members agreed that more consideration needed to be given in improving awareness amongst GPs.

5.Discussion Item – NES/SSSC Dementia Workforce Development Plan: Overview and Update on Progress

Members discussed the Dementia Update report which was previously circulated. A correction to the headline of Section 3 was noted to now read Status at April 2012.

Action: WD will circulate an amended paper to the Board for onward distribution throughout their respective organisations. The update paper will also be uploaded onto the NES website along with the previous minutes.

It was suggested that actions completed in the paper could be either removed or repositioned to make the report more concise.

Action: The structure of the update report will be reviewed at the next meeting of the Dementia Project Steering Group.

The group considered the Participants in Training paper, previously circulated. The paper provided a statistical breakdown for:

  • Dementia Champions Cohort 1
  • Dementia Champions Cohort 2
  • Palliative Care in Dementia Training for Trainers
  • Post Diagnostic support Pilot
  • Psychological Interventions in Dementia
  • Cognitive Stimulation Therapy Workshops
  • Acceptance & Commitment Therapy for Dementia Caregivers Workshop
  • Stress and Distress (Training for Trainers)

It was reported that the Informed about Dementia DVD has been widely disseminated and Ambi Wildman met with SDWG recently to discuss the creation of a flyer to promote the DVD across GP settings. The DVD also forms part of the newDementia Skilled Resource which has been very well received across the Health and Social Services sector.

The DVD and Dementia Skilled resource is available in web-format and is accessible via the Dementia Managed Knowledge Network, Promoting Excellence, YouTube and NES websites. The group discussed the matter of how training might be delivered in conjunction with the resource and if a training plan needed to be drawn up and placed alongside the DVD on the website.

Ambi Wildman and TD have been hosting a series of two hour workshops on Dementia for NES staff which have received positive evaluations. Staff were said to have attended the sessions for both personal and professional reasons.

SSSC has produced guidance to accompany the Dementia Skilled resource and DVD. This is to support assessors, educators, trainers and managers in using the resources to their potential. Appendices in the guidance link the resource to the current National Occupational Standards in Health and Social Care, and, also to the Professional Development Award in Dementia Skilled Practice and the Continued Learning Framework.

SC elaborated on the training provided by the Psychological Interventions in Dementia team. The pilot training on Stress and Distress was delivered to the Dementia Demonstrator sites. This is now being evaluated and plans are being drawn up to roll it out on a cross sector basis. The team will give consideration as to how the programme can be adapted to work in other areas and SC invited members to get in touch with any ideas or suggestions.

A tender on the Development, delivery and evaluation of an educational programme in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) to PG Diploma level for multi-disciplinary staff working in Older People’s Mental Health Services across Scotland was awarded to the South of Scotland CBT Course.

The team is also developing the following educational resources:

  • An online training tool to improve staff competence in cognitive screening for possible dementia.
  • A resource to equip staff with a psychological understanding of dementia and the impact of this across a range of domains of psychological functioning.
  • Educational materials targeting Cognitive Rehabilitation, to allow staff to provide effective, evidence-based support to people with dementia and carers.
  • Cognitive Rehabilitation materials for people with dementia and their families
  • A resource to support carers in understanding and responding to stress and distress in the context of dementia.

SF mentioned that an evaluation report by UWS on the 1stcohort of dementia champions had been finalised. This in addition to the Executive Summary, (previously circulated) will be publicly available on the NES website.

It was also noted that the 2nd cohort of Dementia Champions commences on 18 May and recruitment for the 3rd cohort will take place shortly.

TD said that to-date, 11 Dementia Nurse Consultants had been recruited to post and NHS Highland is due to recruit next month. It was acknowledged that the pace of recruitment is slow. This is principally due to HR protocol and the matter has been discussed with the Chief Nursing Officer. Session 4 of the leadership programme is scheduled for the end of May. Participants were reported to be very engaged and the programme is progressing well.

LG tabled a paper on the Review of Infrastructure Development in Social Services 2011/12. Members were asked to read this and contact LG with any questions or comments.

6.National Dementia Awards

HS informed the Board that the National Dementia Awards would be held on 20 September at HampdenPark and all members are invited to attend. Copies of the information pack and entry form were tabled for members to view.

The Awards are being taken forward by Alzheimer Scotland in partnership with NHS Education for Scotland, NHS Health Scotland and Scottish Social Services Council. A press release to launch the event will be issued next week. KW providedan overview of the event format and timeline. The venue can accommodate up to 250 delegates and attendance will be free of charge. The Minister for Health, Wellbeing & Cities Strategy has accepted an invitation to provide the keynote address.

HS outlined the 6 categories of awards being presented and explained that each category requires a panel of judges. It was decided that each partnership should nominate a judge to sit on each panel. Volunteers were also sought from the Programme Board to which a discussion ensued on potential nominees. Due to the number of apologies for this meeting, it was agreed that stakeholders would liaise with KW to confirm their nomination.

7.AOCB

HS informed the group about recent involvement in setting up a National Dementia Carers Action Network which comprises of 15 people across Scotland. This group will be asked to provide a carers view on policy. A two day training programme has been planned to help inform and engage the group with current policy.

Alzheimer Scotland is also working with QueenMargaretUniversity to produce a web-based short video. The film will focus on people who live in care homes and deliver both a positive and negative message. The style of the production will be along similar lines to the ‘Sliding Doors’ portrayal which was developed by the Reshaping Care of Older People Operational Group.

8. Dates of Future Meetings

  • 09 August – 10:30 – 13:00 – Alzheimer Scotland.

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