DementiaRoadmap

Promoting living well with dementia across Scotland
Supporting well → Hospital

Hospital

Someone living with dementia may be admitted to a general or specialist hospital ward either as part of a planned procedure, such as a cataract operation, or following an accident, such as a fall. Hospital environments can be disorientating and frightening for a person living with dementia and may make them more confused than usual. The person might find the ward loud and unfamiliar, and may not understand why they are there.

However, there is much that can be done to help them adapt to the new environment. Increasingly, where there are wards specifically equipped and staffed to meet and treat the needs of older people, there will be attention to the ward design, equipment, processes and routines which acknowledge the needs of people with cognitive impairment and dementia.

Information
Services

Information

  • Dementia UK – A Stay In HospitalThis resource gives information on preparing for a hospital stay.
  • A Stay in Hospital – Top TipsThis page provides some useful information for anyone with dementia going into hospital to make the visit more comfortable.
  • Stress and DementiaInformation about the link between stress and dementia
  • Changes in care – a stay in hospitalThis resource gives information on preparing for a hospital stay.
  • Planned Date of DischargeInformation on what happens when someone with dementia goes into hospital.
  • Preparing to leave HospitalInformation to help prepare for leaving hospital.
  • Home First – NHS InformWhen your medical treatment is finished, the best place for you to recover is at home. This is known as the Home First approach. Home First brings together different types of support to allow you to recover at home. This will help to maintain your ...
  • John’s CampaignJohn’s Campaign is about the right of people who care for someone living with dementia to be able to stay with them – and the right of people with dementia to be able to have a family carer stay with them. It applies to all ...
  • How living with dementia could beThis short animated video highlights how living with dementia could be through the 'well pathway for dementia'. It shows the importance of a holistic partnership approach to supporting the person with dementia, their families and carers within local community settings.
  • Duty of Candour: Information for all providersThis document published by the Care Quality Commission sets out how meeting the Duty of Candour regulation will be central to both registration and inspection for NHS bodies and all other care providers regulated by the CQC.
  • No Secrets: guidance on protecting vulnerable adults in careThis guidance document published by the Department of Health sets out a code of practice for the protection of vulnerable adults in care.
  • Pain in People with Dementia: A Silent TragedyThis report, published by Napp Pharmaceuticals, draws on a survey of interviews with experts, major providers of care, and on desk research. It quantifies the problem and sets out the issues in recognising, assessing and managing pain in people with dementia.
  • Cracks in the pathwayThis report presents the findings of a Care Quality Commission review of the care people living with dementia receive as they moved between care homes and acute hospitals.
  • Virtual Hospital modelling toolThe Virtual Hospital modelling tool, developed by the Dementia Services Development Centre, aims to show good design can help to make an acute hospital setting dementia-friendly.
  • Making a Difference in Dementia: Nursing StrategyThis nursing vision and strategy for dementia care, published by the Department of Health, makes clear that every nurse can make a difference to the care of people with dementia.
  • Hospital 2 Home resource packThis resource is designed to make it easier for health and social care professionals involved in hospital discharge to support older patients in returning home safely after a hospital stay and reduce the risk of readmission to hospital.
  • Optimising treatment and care for behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementiaThis best practice guide has been developed in consultation with an advisory group of leading clinicians specialising in dementia.
  • This is me'This is me' is a leaflet produced by the Alzheimer's Society to help hospital staff better understand the needs of people with dementia.
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Services