Dementia care

Our Dementia nurse specialists help and support people living with dementia, and their family/carer, whilst they are a patient at Colchester or Ipswich hospitals.

Our specialists work Monday to Friday from 8am-4pm.

The role of the specialist nurse:

• work with people living with dementia, along with their family, carers and hospital staff, to make their hospital stay as comfortable as possible
• provide education, support and guidance to staff and families/carers to plan and deliver the patient’s care
• signpost into local support services

 This is me

‘This Is me’ is a personal profile developed by the Alzheimer’s Society that gives useful information about a person with dementia.

It helps staff to see the person first and not the disease and it can support person-centred care planning.

It can be used for anyone who is living with dementia, delirium or other communication difficulties.

If you can, please complete one yourself, or on behalf of someone you care for and pass this to the hospital team.

Alzheimers website – This is me.

Useful links and contacts

Colchester

• Colchester Dementia Helpline – 01206 228 975
• Colchester Memory Assessment Service – 01206 228 970
• Carers First – 0300 3031 555
• Essex Social Care – 0345 603 7630
• Age Concern Colchester – 01206 368 420

Ipswich

• Dementia Intensive Support Team  – 01473 891 733
• Community Memory Assessment Service – 01473 296 194
• Dementia Together – 0808 168 8000
• Suffolk Social Care / Customer First – 0800 917 1109
• Suffolk Family Carers – 01473 835 477

East Suffolk and North Essex (NHS) Foundation Trust – support services

• Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) 0800 783 7328
• Chaplaincy

Hospital switchboards

• Colchester 01206 747 474
• Ipswich 01473 712 233

National organisations

• Alzheimer’s Society  0333 150 3456
• Alzheimer’s Society Dementia Connect Service – This is a support service for people with dementia, their families and carers that you can self-refer to
• Dementia UK – 0800 888 6677
• Healthwatch    03000 683 000
• Age UK    08000 556 112
• iCARE APP – This information resource is created by those with dementia / their families and professionals offering information on types of dementia, medication, behaviour and more