Recruitment has started for two Admiral nurses in the Swansea Bay area, the first specialist dementia community services in South Wales.
The two nurses will provide a community based nursing service for the Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board (ABMU). They will work to meet the needs of families affected by dementia, and are expected to help reduce the numbers of dementia patients who are admitted to hospital as urgent, unplanned cases. The nurses will work with social other community nurses, mental health teams and GPs, to provide the care required for dementia patients in South Wales.
‘These nurses will help to reduce admissions to care homes and hospitals by providing additional skilled interventions in the community, which is much better for patients,’ said Vicky Warner, ABMU's primary care and community services nurse director.
She added that the the nurses will also help train health and social care colleagues, which will bring an extra dimension to the dementia training already provided to staff. The posts have been fully funded for three years by the Sancta Maria Hospital. Admiral nurses are specialist nurses employed by Dementia UK to provide care for patients with dementia.
‘Admiral Nursing interventions have been proven to avert avoidable and costly crises and reduce hospital admissions and early residential care,’ said Hilda Hayo, the chief Admiral nurse. ‘Admiral Nurses also work collaboratively with health and social care professionals to share their dementia expertise and therefore improve the overall dementia care that families receive.