Living with Dementia in Rutland
People with dementia and their families and carers shared their views last Autumn as part of our research project with Healthwatch Leicester and Healthwatch Leicestershire to understand whether services are meeting people’s needs across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.
We gathered feedback through a survey, though individual interviews and from talking to people attending dementia and carers’ support and activity groups across the region.
The key findings of the research are available in the LLR wide report ‘Living with Dementia in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland’. This subsidiary report highlights where the experiences of people in Rutland differed from those in Leicester or Leicestershire:
- Across LLR 45% of all respondents were happy with the length of time it took to get a dementia diagnosis. However, Rutland respondents were less satisfied with only 5 out of 15 saying they were happy with the length of time.
- Although the survey revealed that the availability of information before and after diagnosis is better in Rutland than in Leicester and Leicestershire, individual interviews with Rutland people revealed that there is room for improvement.
- Family support offered by the Admiral Nurse service is highly valued with half of Rutland respondents reporting that they use and value the Rutland service in comparison to 22% for Leicestershire and 11% for Leicester City. However, one family’s story highlighted that the Admiral Nurse support finishes when the person with dementia moves to a care home, leaving them feeling unsupported.
- Attending carer support groups can be difficult when the person with dementia cannot be left unattended.
This was an important project to undertake as Rutland has an older population than the national average and is forecast to see an increasing number of people experiencing dementia. We need to be sure that people with dementia and their families and carers receive the good care and support they deserve from our local health and care services, volunteer groups and communities. We hope this report contributes to forthcoming plans for dementia care.
