Improving timely diagnosis and

post diagnostic support

Some current issues in Dementia

• Awareness of dementia is at its highest

• Diagnosis rate

• Early vs timely diagnosis: benefits

• Support is the key

• Read codes

• Brain Imaging

• Population screening not appropriate

• Recast dementia as a Long term condition managed in primary care

• Primary care in charge

• Dementia rarely travels alone

• Primary care memory services

• Prevention

Improving the DES

Information

prescription

CCG support

Vascular dementia

Evidence base

Focus on post diagnostic support and the numbers will follow

Work with Clinical Commissioning Groups, Area Team primary

care commissioners, General Practices, deaneries and LETBs to

design and implement a comprehensive improvement plan,

which aims to:

1. improve access promote timely diagnosis

2. improve pathways to support people seeking help, and for post-

diagnosis support

3. improve systems to capture diagnosis and to follow up after

diagnosis

Improve access: timely diagnosis

• Promote awareness via existing routes and community assets

• Communications strategy; utilise social marketing.

• Nurture ‘dementia champions’ and experts in General Practice,

including the GP business and admin team.

• Introduce new roles and new ways of working in primary care.

• Work with postgraduate deanery and LETB to invest in and

facilitate ‘action learning’ in general practice

Improve pathways, to support people seeking help, and for

post-diagnosis support

• Review standards of access; pathways; patient experience;

information.

• Monitor referrals, waiting times, eg MSNAP

• Incorporate protocols and standards for people presenting

with mild cognitive impairment.

• Commission pathways to support timely diagnosis, e.g.

- ‘in reach’ to primary care by memory services; primary care

access to specialist advice,

- rapid access to scans;

- post diagnosis support in community,

Improve systems: to capture diagnosis, and to follow up after

diagnosis

• Understand local prevalence and establish realistic trajectories

for improvement, using Dementia Prevalence Calculator.

• Use system levers (DES, LES, CQUIN). Are they having an

impact? What can be done to improve delivery, and improve

patient experience?

• Reconcile coding (ICD10, Read Codes) – ‘Coding Clean Up

Audit’

• Reconcile QOF with prescribing of antipsychotics for over 65s,

and prescribing of anti dementia drugs

• ‘Case find’; including patients in care homes.

mentia

Share knowledge, innovation and learning

dementiapartnerships.com

Clinician led and collaborative

• A portal for clinician led partnerships

to support, accelerate and improve

commissioning and service redesign

• Providing collaborative tools for networks,

organisations and individuals to improve

services and the health and wellbeing of

communities

Supported and supportive

Helping you to:

• promote and disseminate

• consult and engage

• find and share what works best

• recommend and comment

• network and learn from elsewhere

• identify and access expertise