Survey on Dementia services in Manchester
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The aim of this project was to collect feedback from carers looking after someone living with dementia about their experience with dementia-related services available to them in Manchester.
A survey was made available online through SurveyMonkey and advertised on the Healthwatch website, Twitter and Facebook pages. Healthwatch Manchester have also shared the survey link with Manchester Dementia Action Alliance members to help us gather more responses.
Healthwatch Manchester have so far collected 21 responses for our second survey. A number of issues have emerged from the responses gathered so far. Namely:
1. The time it takes for the referral to the Memory Clinic. The referral experience can be very different in different parts of Manchester. Some users had to wait for around 6 months and in some cases, up to several years to get referred to specialists. In the meantime, there is very little support or information given on available services.
2. The lack of information on local services available at each stage of care. It is quite common that carers and patients don’t find out about essential services until they have been visited by an Admiral Nurse or attended a dementia café.
Carers have also shared with us the following positive experiences:
1. A number of users have told us that they received very good support from the Community Psychiatric Nurses (CPN) where this service was available to them in their area.
2. The Admiral Nurse Service was pointed-out by the majority of service users as a vital service and user’s experience with the supports provided by the Admiral Nurses have been very positive. There are strong calls for more Admiral Nurses.
3. Carers highly recommend the Dementia Cafes but said it can be difficult for people to find their local support groups.