Communities and teamwork; Leading improvements in dementia care across North Wales

By Ian Dovaston, Senior Improvement Manager

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I thought that this blog should focus on Improvement Cymru’s visit to North Wales at the end of October. This three-day excursion was to really get to grips and understand how the All Wales Dementia Care Pathway of Standards is being put into action in North Wales, with a particular focus on standards relating to communities and in hospital care. Our visit included connecting with community projects, dementia hubs and wards across north-east, north central and north-west Wales. Whilst there were many takeaways I think the importance of community involvement and effective teamwork came through strongly as integral to the great progress happening in dementia services across the region.

We started our journey in Mold Rugby Club attending a peer support group set up by a person living with dementia, who through their work had identified a need within a local community. We met with some of the attendees and heard how long they had been attending and how important this group was to them. A Halloween quiz and some ghost stories later and we were on our way to Wrexham to visit a dementia hub.

The dementia hub is not far from the centre of Wrexham. The hub is a vibrant building with a number of different group activities taking place during our visit. The dementia hub forms part of the North Wales memory support pathway and offers a space for people to come together in groups or attend to have one-to-one support from the dementia specialists. We were also lucky enough to take part in a seated exercise class focussed on resistance and balance training for people living with dementia. The group setting allowed social interaction, working with the strengths of the attendees with a bit of fun, all accompanied by some Dire Straits music!

We ended day one by visiting Onnen ward in Wrexham Maelor hospital and Gwanwyn ward on the Heddfan unit. What was evident from both visiting Onnen and Gwanwyn was the importance of teamwork and the camaraderie that staff needed to function in the challenging circumstances of modern healthcare.

Day two started with a visit to the Mochdre in Conwy which is another dementia hub. This is a dedicated building for people living with dementia and offers rooms for activities, spaces for reminiscence and an environment to connect and find support. We discussed the Memory Pathway in more detail and the partnership working that is required to ensure that people are able to navigate in and out of the system as required.

We also visited a medical ward in Glan Clwyd and Bryn Hesketh unit. It was evident that many of the challenges faced here were similar to those in Wrexham; trying to create an improved environment for people living with dementia and their loved ones was a primary focus. These changes were different for each ward denoting the differing nature of the care provided but each demonstrated improvements for people living with dementia and their families.

Our last stop of day two took place in a leisure centre in Caernarfon where we took part in Dementia Actif’s activity afternoon. One thing that I haven’t mentioned yet, and possibly should have, is Boccia – for anyone who hasn’t heard of this before it is a game similar to crown green bowls and boules and taken seriously in North Wales (they have a league and everything). Competition was fierce and the practiced hand of the group shone through; luckily our loss was softened by some delicious spiced pumpkin cake and singing to end the day on. The importance of activity and connection were demonstrated and delivered so effectively.

Our final day started with a visit to Anglesey, specifically Llangefni. We met with the community team consisting of director of social services, regional integration funding manager, local councillor, plus aging well and dementia friendly representatives. They went on to describe a truly inspiring community plan that has been developed over a number of years. Listening to the community and working with them to address issues is well embedded in their approach. After the meeting we visited a very special renovation project. To create a community space in Llangefni they were repurposing a local chapel – using such a central space not only demonstrated a commitment to the local community but also restoring a truly beautiful building to give it a new life and purpose.

Our final stops on our North Wales trip were to Cefni Hospital in Llangefni and Cemlyn ward in Ysbyty Gwynedd in Bangor. Hearing about the vast array of work that is taking place in both hospitals to improve dementia care was really useful and highlighted the need for dementia training and tools to help improve dementia care in all environments.

Although our visit to North Wales had a jam-packed agenda, just hearing about the work that is taking place across communities and within hospitals was amazing. This is the start of a series of visits that will highlight the work taking place across all regions of Wales to meet the dementia pathway of standards. The aim is to create a picture of the work taking place, sharing innovative practice, joined up thinking, and creating an environment where dementia care meets the needs of the people of Wales.

Find out more about the work of Improvement Cymru’s Mental Health programme here.