Agenda item

This item covers the implementation of the H&F Dementia Strategy, including key achievements in 2022/23.

Jo Baty (Assistant Director, Specialist Support and Independent Living) and Peggy Coles (Coordinator of H&F Dementia Action Alliance) gave a presentation on the implementation of the Hammersmith and Fulham Dementia Strategy and key achievements.

Toby Hyde (Chair of the H&F Dementia Partnership Board) then gave an overview of the report, highlighting areas where the Dementia Partnership Board was making great progress in improving outcomes for residents with dementia, their carers, and families.

The Chair thanked Toby Hyde for Chairing the Partnership Board and noted the huge contribution he had made. He also thanked residents for their determination, and the Administration and officers for making it happen. He also noted Councillor Asif Siddique’s valuable work as the Council’s Older People’s Champion in ensuring that we pooled resources and widely communicated the events for older residents to reduce social isolation and loneliness.

The Chair noted the specific challenges the Board needed to consider:

• Diagnosis and why diagnosis rates in H&F were lower than many other boroughs.
• more funding and resources from the Integrated Care Board (Hammersmith and Fulham Health and Care Partnership) was necessary.
• Making dementia a priority for the Hammersmith and Fulham Health and Care Partnership
• Access to data and how to unblock barriers to getting the data needed on a regular basis.

Suhana Ahmed (NHS) said the limiting factor regarding diagnosis rates was primary care engagement. It was the key factor in Kingston where she had worked previously. That also tied into health inequalities, some populations were not seeking help so services needed to be more proactive. She said Integrated Care Board funding was part of the puzzle but there also needed to be more GP engagement, which she felt was lacking.

There was a discussion about the importance of GP engagement and representation on the Dementia Partnership Board. The Chair said he would like more clinical leads at the Board in addition to Sue Roostan. The Chair also suggested inviting every Primary Care Network to send a representative, given how important GPs were to the work of the Board.

ACTION: Jo Baty

The Chair asked if more money was needed to meet the national diagnostic standards. Suhana Ahmed commented that they were commissioned for a 9 week target but the national target was now 6 weeks, so more funding was required. Toby Hyde explained that in the past there had been money available from the Clinician Commissioning Groups that allowed GPs to build time into their schedule for dementia engagement work.

The Chair asked for a discussion at the H&F Health and Care Partnership on the specifics of how to improve diagnosis, resources, and data. He invited Toby Hyde to be a part of the discussion.

ACTION: Linda Jackson

The Chair asked why data was inaccessible and where it was held. Toby Hyde said it was held in different places - diagnosis data was held by the Trust, some data sat with the ICS, some in primary care records, some in Imperial Health Care Trust, and some in social care. All of that data needed to be stitched together to get a complete picture. He said the Health & Wellbeing Board and the Health and Care Partnership Board should have access to data so they could track progress. The Chair asked Linda Jackson to set up a meeting with Lucy Smith to discuss further.

ACTION: Linda Jackson

Nadia Taylor raised the carers strategy and who had been consulted. Jo Baty agreed to speak with her about it after the meeting.

ACTION: Jo Baty

Suhana Ahmed noted that other boroughs looked to Hammersmith & Fulham’s Dementia Strategy as a learning point, showing the strength of the approach here.

The Chair asked for a progress update on the issues raised at the meeting in 6 months.

ACTION: Jo Baty

RESOLVED

The Board noted the report.