At the Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust, we are working towards improving the experience for people living with dementia who use our services, as well as considering the impact it has on our workforce. Our staff are so often in the frontline when it comes to helping people living with dementia. We want to make sure that they are trained and informed about the condition so that they have a good understanding of how to best support patients, families and carers.
We have a dementia work plan that outlines the work we will deliver to improve the services we provide for people affected by dementia, in line with the Dementia Action Plan for Wales.
We fully support national and regional dementia plans which have a clear vision for Wales to be a dementia friendly nation that recognises the rights of people with dementia to feel valued and to live as independently as possible in their communities. We also use the Good Work Framework which helps us develop the skills and knowledge our range of staff need when they provide care and services to people living with dementia and their carers.
Our continuous engagement model has allowed us to co-produce a range of resources in partnership, including
- ‘A Guide to Communicating with People Living with Dementia’ has been developed for our range of staff and volunteers, and is based on what people living with dementia and their carers have told us. See English version .
- People living with dementia tell us that calling 999 can be difficult and stressful, so we have developed an educational leaflet on what to expect from our services – ‘What happens when you call 999’.
- Our ‘Dementia Voices’ video, which includes first-hand accounts from people living with dementia about their experiences or expectations of our services.
- ‘Hope in the age of dementia’ video, developed in partnership with Alzheimer’s Disease International and ITN. This showcases how we have involved people affected by dementia in our work including developing dementia friendly environments and delivering training together.
