Getting Help

The flowchart below describes what should happen if a person is suspected of suffering from dementia in the UK. There are 10 progressive stages which are split into two main sections, Before diagnosis and After diagnosis. The pages that follow take each stage in turn and explain:

• Who may be involved?

• What can they do?

• What you can do to help

The exact process will vary depending on which Health Authority you live in and on the arrangement of the services in the hospital to which the patient is referred.

Swindon is unusual in that all the services are available under one roof and are fully integrated. This means that the Community Team, Medical Team and Research Team work as one to provide the best and most appropriate care for a patient. Separate referrals to the Community Team are not necessary.

The image above is a simple diagram used throughout this section of the site which shows what stage you are looking at by highlighting the stage in red. Clicking on a stage in the flowchart or a stage on the image will take you directly to its page.

Two government documents that may be of interest because they define the standards of care that should be available are:

• The National Service Framework for Older People, published in 2001 by the Department of Health, which sets out new national standards of care for all older people, whether they live at home, in residential care or are being cared for in hospital.
  
  
• The Audit Commission's Forget Me Not Report on mental health services for older people, (January 2000) and the subsequent update in 2002. This is no longer available on their web site, but you will find some commentary in an Alzheimer's Society Press Release.

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This page was last updated on: 23 May 2003