Oldham Age UK wins top award for helping dementia patients leave A&E safely for home

The National Dementia Frontrunner programme was launched to help wrap support around people living with dementia at home after they’ve left hospital or A&E.

The scheme was sparked to give people the “best chance of making a recovery” and ease pressures on local hospitals.

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Now, it has been revealed the Oldham branch of Age UK has played a “big role” in boosting the programme, as it has provided practical services, carer support and concentrated daily day care provision for patients for up to three weeks after they have been discharged from hospital.

The teams involved in the trailblazing programme are responsible for the creation and implementation of fast and effective solutions, with the aim of moving people more quickly from hospital to home after treatment as well as improve emergency care for people living with dementia.

Examples of this include one woman in her 80s who collapsed at home and was taken to Royal Oldham Hospital with her husband, who had advanced dementia.

Nurses spoke to the couple in A&E and, rather than admitting the couple to a ward, sent them to Bulter Green intermediate care unit where they were assessed and discharged after four days.

Age UK Oldham then stepped in to support the couple at home, providing them with meals and setting up referrals to a GP appointment and memory clinic.

Without this intervention, it is estimated the couple could have spent up to 14 days in hospital, increasing their risk of physical and mental health deterioration.

The couple were reportedly “delighted” with the support.

In another incident, a man in his 90s living with dementia fell at home and was taken to Royal Oldham Hospital.

When in A&E, the man said he wanted to go home to be with a relative, so Age UK Oldham supported him and his relative, who was also found to be living with dementia.

The couple were booked into daycare and have enjoyed the food and socialising.

The man told the NHS trust: “Thank you so much Frontrunner team for taking me home.”

As a result of these positive outcomes, the team were crowned the winners of a top award.

The Frontrunners and Age UK Oldham were praised for “improving care for people with dementia across an acute hospital discharge pathway”.

The award given is titled “Best Use of Integrated Care and Partnership Working in Patient Safety Award”.

The programme also received high commendations for “Quality Improvement Initiative of the Year” and “Improving Care of Older People Initiative of the Year”.

Programme director Lindsey Darley said: “This well-respected and high-profile platform will give us the chance to showcase our work and hopefully inspire others across the country to introduce similar changes, helping thousands more people.”

The project has been funded by NHS England and is led by the “four localities partnership”, which brings together teams from the Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust and local council’s adult social care teams, plus voluntary and mental health services across Oldham, Bury, Rochdale and Salford.

The Northern Care Alliance said the programme has inspired it to implement several new ideas, including opening a specialist dementia unit at Bury’s Fairfield General Hospital and transforming a side room on a ward into a “mock flat” with cooking facilities, so nurses can check patients would be able to cope at home and, in turn, potentially speeding up their discharge.

In Oldham, the trust said Royal Oldham is testing a new way to support people with dementia when they appear before A&E, to try to avoid admitting patients to hospital if the best option is to treat them at home.

The hospital has been working closely with Age UK Oldham to extend this support, as well as Oldham Red Cross which has bene transporting patients home from A&E in their ambulance.

The programme was also scheduled to end in March 2024, however, because of its success, the NCA said it will run even further.

Got a story? Email me Olivia.bridge@newsquest.co.uk