Dementia training for care home staff

People with dementia deserve better – Alzheimer Scotland responds to findings on training for care home staff

Today’s announcement that a third of care homes in England and Wales caring for people with dementia do not provide dementia-specific training for their staff is regrettable, but comes as little surprise to Alzheimer Scotland.

Henry Simmons, Chief Executive of Alzheimer Scotland, said, “It is unacceptable that people with dementia are not receiving satisfactory residential care due to a lack of appropriate training for care home staff. Making the decision to place a loved one in full-time residential care is often painful and distressing, as carers (and often other family members) are forced to recognise that they are no longer able to support the person with dementia at home. These findings provide little reassurance for concerned families that the person with dementia will receive better support in a residential care setting."

This is an avoidable problem. Alzheimer Scotland raised this issue with the Minister for Public Health last year, highlighting the key difficulties arising when nurse managers in care homes lack dementia care training and are thus unable to provide necessary leadership and support to their staff. We requested that dementia care training for nurse managers in care homes be made mandatory and that all care staff should receive dementia care training which includes an understanding of person-centred care. We also stressed the importance of care homes being able to access community-based expertise such as Community Mental Health Teams/Nurses and Old Age Psychiatrists – this presently varies depending on local authority area.”

Inappropriate use of anti-psychotics and other sedatives

Jan Killeen, Director of Policy at Alzheimer Scotland, said, “We are already aware of the problems posed by a lack of adequate training for care staff, particularly surrounding the inappropriate use of anti-psychotics and other sedative medication. Inappropriate use of anti-psychotics in managing the behaviour of people with dementia leads to an increase in falls due to dizziness and unsteadiness, an almost doubling of mortality rates and double the risk of stroke. In addition, the annual cost of inappropriate prescribing is estimated to be between £5.3 million and £8 million in Scotland alone. Even providing basic information and training about dementia for care home staff helps to de-escalate stressful situations, saves time in the resolution of those situations and ultimately leads to a cost saving by lowering staff turnover, as staff feel better equipped to deal with problems when they arise."

Local authorities have a responsibility to commission services that recognise the needs of individuals and to provide adequate resources for those needs to be met. However, funding for dementia care across Scotland is problematic and inconsistent. Dementia is currently a national clinical priority; however, we need a clear strategy as to how the Government, NHS, Social Services, Local Authorities and other key stakeholders will tackle problems such as these in both the short and long term future."