'Carers passport' gives extra support to people with dementia

A new scheme allowing carers to spend more time alongside loved ones with dementia is being trialled in three of Dorset’s community hospitals.

Dorset HealthCare is introducing a ‘carer’s passport’ system, giving people hospital access outside of regular visiting hours and providing vital support to patients with dementia or memory problems caused by brain injuries and strokes.

The idea will be piloted at Weymouth Community Hospital, Portland Community Hospital and St Leonards Community Hospital, near Ringwood, over the next three months. If successful, it will be implemented at community hospitals across the county.

Helen Hutchings, Carers’ Co-ordinator for Dorset HealthCare, said: “We recognise that people with memory or recognition problems can find hospitals a particularly frightening and disorienting place.

“Having the presence and support of their regular carer can make a big difference, and help us to provide the best possible care. We want to make carers feel welcome, and the new passport is something simple which could have a big impact.”

Under the system, carers identify themselves on arrival at the hospital and are given a badge, or ‘passport’, which allows them to stay beyond regular visiting hours – providing reassurance and additional help for the person they are caring for.

The move was sparked by John’s Campaign, a national initiative founded in late 2014 following the death of Dr John Gerrard. He had been living with dementia when he went into hospital for an unrelated condition. During his five-week stay, visits from his family were severely restricted by hospital policy and he suffered a catastrophic and irreversible decline.

His daughter Nicci began campaigning for more access for carers, a move backed by NHS England. There are over 850,000 people in the UK living with dementia. They occupy one in four hospital beds and, as a group, their experience of hospitalisation is significantly worse than other people of the same age.

The trial in Dorset has been warmly welcomed by Sid Wheeler from Walkford, near Christchurch, who helped care for his late father Alan during 2015.

“My Dad had substantial needs as a result of Lewy Body Dementia, which resulted in several admissions to Dorset's general and rehab hospitals,” said Sid.

“I'd read about John's Campaign and so became aware of the importance of visitor access for dementia patients. Hospital staff don't always have the time or resources to give dementia patients the reassurance they need, and so feelings of disorientation or abandonment can escalate.

“Allowing relatives and carers open access hopefully goes a long way to alleviate such distress, and helps NHS staff as well. It's fantastic that carers’ passports are to be trialled by Dorset HealthCare. It all helps spread much needed awareness and wider conversations about the impact of dementia.”

For more information, email dhc.carer.support@nhs.net .