Nursing and Midwifery Council consultation on the future of nursing education

1 February 2008

Letter to:
Nursing & Midwifery Council
23 Portland Place
London
W1B 1PZ

Alzheimer Scotland is Scotland’s leading dementia charity. We work to improve the lives of everyone affected by dementia through our campaigning work and through facilitating the involvement of people with dementia and carers getting their views and experiences heard. We provide specialist services in over 60 locations and offer information and support through our 24 hour freephone Dementia Helpline our website (www.alzscot.org) and our wide range of publications.

Please accept this letter as our contribution to the consultation on the future of nursing education, as the questionnaire did not allow us to present the points we would like included in the consultation:

• Dementia training should be a key element of basic nursing training.

• Dementia is a key condition affecting older people and is projected to increase by 75% by 2031 .

• The prevalence of dementia increases with age. The incidence of dementia is approximately 13% in the 80-84 age group, 20% in the 85-89 age group and more than 30% for those aged 90 and over.

• Whilst dementia is most common in older people it can affect people in their 40s and 50s or even younger. There are approximately 1,350 – 1,650 people aged under 65 with dementia in Scotland.

• The increased prevalence of dementia means that a significant proportion of patients whom nurses encounter in almost any speciality may have dementia, so it is vital that nurses are fully trained to understand their needs.

• Dementia is a progressive condition affecting every aspect of cognition including memory, communication, understanding, self care and daily activities. It is important that nursing staff have knowledge of how dementia affects people and understanding of how to communicate with people with dementia.

• The Scottish Government has made dementia a national clinical priority. The ‘Better Health, Better Care: Action Plan’ recognises that older people have a higher incidence of chronic disease and on average a greater number of long term conditions.

I will be happy to provide additional information or discuss any of the points raised in our response.

Yours sincerely

Jim Jackson
Chief Executive