Tag Archives: dementia

Tracking device for sufferers with dementia will help carers

April 2, 2013   Alzheimer’s, Carers, dementia

Sat nan! Dementia sufferer Anne gets tracking device to stop her getting lost

 

 

Lifesaver … Joanne Taylor shows how the Buddi tracking system works online
Cavendish Press
By BELLA BATTLE
Published: 4 hrs ago

A DEMENTIA-suffering great gran has been fitted with a tracking device dubbed a “sat nan” because she gets lost so often while out walking.

Anne Grimshaw, 78, has become one of the first people in the UK to be equipped with the technology so her family can find her when she gets lost.

The device – known as “Buddi” – is attached to Anne’s keys and shows her last known position on an online map daughter Joanne has access to.

Anne disappears up to FIVE TIMES A DAY and has been known to walk between 150 and 200 miles a week.

She once unwittingly found herself on the hard shoulder of the motorway and a police search helicopter has also been needed to track her down.

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Please, please we need more dementia nurses

April 2, 2013   Alzheimer’s, Carers, dementia

Specialist dementia nurses could save NHS £11m a year, Southampton experts claim

8:00am Monday 1st April 2013 in News  By Melanie Adams, Health Reporter

SPECIALIST dementia nurses could save the health service £11m a year, according to experts in Southampton.

A report by the University of Southampton and the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is calling for greater support, funding and training of specialist nurses to boost care for dementia patients and save millions of pounds by slashing the time sufferers are in hospital.

With more than 20,000 people suffering from the devastating disease in Southampton and Hampshire, it has highlighted the significant contribution made by specialist dementia nurses in hospitals and found that if they were properly funded and trained, they could reduce hospital stays for older people by one day on average – a saving of almost £11m.

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The NHS changes today

April 1, 2013   Carers, disability, hospital, learning difficulties

NHS structure changes come into force

By Nick Triggle Health correspondent

Doctor's equipment, a sphygmomanometer and stethoscope The changes have proved extremely controversial

Government reforms of the NHS in England have come into force and health leaders warn of a tough year ahead.

Monday marks the first day of the new structures.

GP-led groups have taken control of local budgets and a new board, NHS England, has started overseeing the day-to-day running of services.

The NHS Confederation said the reforms represented a big opportunity but should not be seen as a “silver bullet” for the challenges ahead.

Mike Farrar, chief executive of the confederation, which represents health managers, said the squeeze on finances and the need to rebuild public confidence after the Stafford Hospital scandal meant the NHS was facing a critical period.

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