Plymouth Dementia Action Alliance Meeting (PDAA)
Friday 5th April 2013, 10:00-12:00
Windsor House, Plymouth, PL6 5UF.
Attending: Ian Sherriff (Vice Chair) (IS), Kayleigh Milden (KM), Nicole Quinn (NQ), George Giarchi (GG), Karen Grimshaw (KG), Hanna Moore (HM), Annemarie Nathan (AN), Ruth Bishop (RB).
Apologies: Mary Aspinall (Chair), Keith Bucknall, Mrs Bucknall, Kate Smith, Sam Buckthought, Helen McFarlane , Carol Clifford, Lana Henshaw, Rachel Silcock, Heather Ogburn.
Ian Sherriff took the chair in Mary’s absence.
1. IS: Ian announced that Plymouth University has committed staff to be trained as 500 Dementia Friends.
2. IS: Asks all present to become Dementia Champions and to attended Dementia Champion Training event in Plymouth on 16th April; details and registration available on the ‘Dementia Friends website:
3. IS: Re: Award of Dementia Friendly status. A date will shortly be confirmed for the official award of the ‘Dementia Badge’ in May 2013. Oliver Colville is currently organising for a representative from Westminster to attend the event in Plymouth.
4. IS: Announces that a ‘Dementia Strategic Leadership Workshop’, is to take place from 12-13 June, at Bournemouth University. This is a joint initiative by Plymouth University and Bournemouth University, funded via the Department of Health. The programme of work has been designed to support strategic leaders in the South of England. Participants will be assigned a national dementia lead as a mentor (Jeremy Hughes, Ian Bainbridge, Alistair Burns, Sarah Pickup, Angela Rippon, Kate Schneider, Jennie Stephens), and will also receive support from one of the academic mentors (Catherine Hennessey, Anthea Innes, Don Nordberg, Ian Sherriff). A follow-up workshop will be held in February 2014, with the aim of it taking place in Plymouth.
5. IS: There have been moves nationally by the Alzheimer’s Society to get the support of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society to officially support Dementia Friendly Communities. The aim is that every Chemist in the country to become a Dementia Champion. Apparently Chemists are able to carry out dementia assessments.
6. IS: the Prime Minister will be issuing a report over the coming months that will provide an update on progress with dementia friendly communities across the UK.
7. IS: requests that Ruth Bishop acts as the nominated Dementia Champion Trainer for other training providers in Plymouth.
8. KM reported that there are currently only 6 bookings for the training event on 19th April, she has sent out reminder emails to those who received an invitation, and will continue to follow this up.
8.1 KM action: email Lana (Stoke Damerel), and the Dockyard representative to ask that they attend training event on 19th April.
9. KG: raises point that there are around 250 Dementia Champions already trained that are working within Plymouth Hospitals. Suggests that an assessment of current Dementia Champions is completed so that they are recognised on the Dementia Friends website.
10. IS mentions meeting at Plymouth University in May to discuss cross-departmental work on dementia research. Meeting will be attended by Finer Day who are currently developing IT systems such as robot shoppers and Skype technology that will enable people with dementia to lead more independent lives, and to keep in regular contact with their families, carers etc.
11: IS announces that by July a report will be submitted to the Prime Minster and Michael Gove on the Stoke Damerel Schools Project.
12. KM action: contact Tania Milburn, rep. for Plymouth Dockyard, and Bob Widdicombe of Plymouth Raiders, to request their activity reports and ask them to be trained as Dementia Champions.
13. KM: reported that she has emailed the Post Office, Coop, Spar and OneStop to enquire who the regional contact is to ask about Dementia training.
14. KG: raises point that more free Dementia Champion training is required to enable small businesses, such as corners shops to participate in being dementia friendly.
15. KG: Norman Lamb has sent a letter to Plymouth NHS asking why Plymouth is not singed up to the National Dementia Action Alliance, when in fact, Plymouth NHS has been a member for the last two years.
15.1 Action IS: re. above, Ian explains that this is an error on the part of the national Dementia Action Alliance, and he will contact Simon Kitchen to have this issue rectified.
16. GG: raises point that more cross working between academics and carers is required at workshops, training events etc., in order to achieve a greater impact on research and community outputs.
17. KG: raises point that the link between the individual and their training should be emphasised, and that training has more meaning is it’s ‘made personal’; e.g. many members of staff at the University will also be carers, or at least have some experience of dementia within their own family.
18. IS: states that he has been asked to attend future meetings of the Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCG). He will also be advising on Plymouth’s bid to be City of Culture 2017, but has agreed only on the premise that Dementia Friendly Communities form part on the bid’s objects.
19. IS: asks for thoughts on the future sustainability of the PDAA
19.1 NQ: thinks that networks of Dementia Champions, recruited through free training and backed by the local authority, is the way forward for a sustainable future.
19.2 IS: suggests that a steering group of Dementia Champions should be created in the future.
19.3 KG: Thinks that the PDAA needs to dovetail more into the other healthcare groups that are currently involved in dementia friendly initiatives, e.g. Dementia Quality Mark in care homes.
19.4 IS: re. above, makes point that more integration will happen over the course of this year with the employment of the Dementia Friendly City Co-ordinator who will be reviewing all current work across healthcare, education and culture.
19.5 KG: Awareness should be raised within businesses that they need to become dementia friendly, not only for customers, but also for their staff, who may well develop, or be currently living with dementia.
Meeting ends: 11:30
Next Meeting: Tuesday 30th April, 12:00-14:00, Windsor House