Intensive Community Support for Dementia (East and West)

The ICSDs are two multi-professional teams comprising registered nurses, OTs, mental health support workers, and medical staff supported by a team administrator and team manager.

Scope

The teams provide support and treatment for people in Dorset with a diagnosis of dementia who already access Dorset HealthCare secondary mental health care services. The teams provide an urgent care response to needs arising in the community including residential and nursing homes, assess all referrals to determine the appropriate intervention to enable patients to receive care in their normal place of residence and will ‘gatekeep’ access to older person’s mental health in-patient wards.

The teams offer time limited contact with people with dementia for up to six weeks, with the aim of providing the service until such time as the situation has been sufficiently stabilised for ongoing care to be delivered at a lower level of intensity. Where ICSD support and treatment is assessed as completed and a local authority package of care is required, but the package of care cannot be immediately obtained, the ICSD will continue to provide support in the interim. The teams will also offer support to carers and ensure they are able to access a carer’s assessment if required

Aims

To ensure people who can be treated in their own home or place of residence are supported to do so, instead of being admitted to a mental health hospital;
To support people to return home or to their normal place of residence earlier within their course of treatment;
To support family members, carers and care home providers to maintain their caring role
To provide quality, appropriate care and treatment for service users with dementia in the community;
To prevent inappropriate hospital admission, and reduce the demand for mental health inpatient beds;
To manage the increasingly ageing population with co-morbid dementia and physical health problems in the least restrictive settings.

Functions

To supplement with intensive input the Older People's Community Mental Health services for people with dementia whose condition is such that inpatient admission is otherwise likely.
To work collaboratively with the physical health Intermediate Care services to manage complex challenging co-morbidity.
To work with the Crisis and Home Treatment Teams ensuring that people access the service that is appropriate for their need and ensuring handovers and liaison take place between the two services as required
To work across organic inpatient and community services to provide the most appropriate intensive service for patients with a diagnosis of dementia presenting with particularly challenging behaviours.
To offer support and guidance to family carers and care home providers to enable their caring roles to be maintained
To act in a 'Gatekeeping' role and bed management capacity for the organic inpatient services for older people.

The following teams can refer directly to the ICSDs:

All CMHT-OPs
Crisis Home Treatment Teams
Liaison Psychiatry Teams
(Physical Health) Intermediate Care Services
MAS
In-Reach

ICSD West - based at Forston Clinic

The West team supports Sherborne, Weymouth and Portland, Bridport, Shaftesbury, Dorchester and Blandford CMHT-OPs

ICSD West 01305 361484/01305 361482

Email all referrals to: dhc.icsdwest.referrals@nhs.net

ICSD East - based at Alderney Hospital

The East team supports Poole South, Poole North, Bournemouth East, Bournemouth North, Bournemouth West, Christchurch, Wimborne & Purbeck CMHT-OPs

ICSD East 0300 7900 213

Email all referrals to: dhc.icsd.referrals@nhs.net

Services for dementia