Dementia

Key findings (Published July 2019)

Key Findings

Key findings (Published July 2019)

  • As of January 2019, there are currently 3,073 people aged 65+ who have a recorded diagnosis of dementia in Wirral

  • Overall, projections estimate that the total number of people with dementia in Wirral will increase from 5,086 in 2019 to 7,135 in 2035

  • Dementia rates are expected to increase in Wirral by 40.7% between 2019 and 2035. This is lower than the projected England increase of 50.2% over the same period

  • The sharpest increase in dementia prevalence rates are estimated to be in the older populations. For example, those aged 90+ are estimated to see a 53% increase between 2019 and 2039

  • The prevalence of early onset dementia (aged under 65) is estimated to decrease by 12% between 2019 and 2035 in Wirral. For England, this figure is an increase of less than 2%

  • Wirral has an estimated diagnosis rate of 68.6% for those aged 65+ for the latest quarter of 2018/19 - this is better than the national rate of 68.0%

  • At both a Wirral and England level, it is estimated that early-onset dementia is more common in males (58.2% for Wirral and 58.8% for England)

  • For late-onset dementia, however, it is more common in females (64.3% for Wirral and 63.4% for England)

  • The ratio of inpatient service use to recorded dementia diagnoses increased between 2015/16 and 2017/18 for Wirral, Cheshire and Merseyside and England

  • The largest proportion of dementia-related inpatient admissions typically lasted less than 7 days (40.1%) between 2013/14 and 2017/18

  • The proportion of dementia-related short stay emergency admissions between 2014/15 to 2016/17 in Wirral have increased

  • Just over 80% of inpatient admissions came through Accident & Emergency between 2013/14 and 2017/18

  • The most common primary diagnosis for dementia-related conditions was pneumonia (9.0%) following by disorders of the urinary system (7.2%) and septicaemia (5.3%)

  • The actual costs involved in prescribing dementia drugs in Wirral have decreased by 50.1% from 2014/15 to 2018/19

  • Services provided to those with a recorded condition of dementia, aged 65+, by the Wirral Department of Adult Social Services (DASS) increased by 68% between 2013/14 and 2017/18

  • The largest single services provision was “Assistive Technology” (18.92%). However, an aggregation of residential services showed that 1 in 4 (24.52%) received support outside of the home environment

  • Claughton ward had the highest rate of service users with a recorded condition of dementia as at January 2019

  • Dementia-related deaths occurring at home have repeatedly increased in Wirral and in England. On the other hand, dementia-related deaths occurring at hospital have repeatedly decreased since 2011/12

  • The Alzheimer’s Society estimates that those with Down’s Syndrome have a 50% chance of developing dementia after they reach the age of 60

  • There is expected growth in the number of people from BAME communities who will develop dementia as the BAME population ages

Previous Dementia Chapter
Further information

Dementia Profile for Wirral 
This can be found on the Public Health England website and range of related adult mental health and wellbeing profiles for Wirral

Dementia: assessment, management and support for people living with dementia and their carers
Guidance and guidelines from NICE (June 2018)
This NICE guideline covers diagnosing and managing dementia (including Alzheimer’s disease). It aims to improve care by making recommendations on training staff and helping carers to support people living with dementia.

MODEM Dementia Evidence Database
The Dementia Evidence Toolkit is for commissioners, care providers, people working in health and social care and people with dementia and their families. The toolkit will help those planning and shaping services and treatments for people with dementia and their carers make informed decisions about which services and treatments to provide and how much they cost. 

Dementia and Mental Health Resources 
NHS England have provided Mental Health Resources in the form of information, tools and guidance to support mental health commissioning and the transformation of services in relation to dementia. Access the NHS England website for more information. 

Dementia does not discriminate - The experience of Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities (2013) 
The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Dementia investigated the experiences of people from BAME communities with dementia. As this report sets out, the number of individuals with dementia from these communities will increase rapidly in the coming decades. Our inquiry heard about high-quality services that were tailored to support people with dementia from BAME communities. But we uncovered that these services are too few and far between, and many people struggle on with too little support from the NHS or local government.

Listening to people with dementia and their carers (2016)
This new listening programme was introduced to find out more about the experiences of people with dementia and their carers starts in England

Dementia support programme, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) (November 2015)
Dementia Friendly Communities: sharing learning from Bradford and York here
As part of this programme JRF has published How can we make our cities dementia friendly: sharing the learning from Bradford and York. These reports identify key messages from two independent evaluations of areas that are relatively advanced in their dementia friendly community (DFC) developments.

How can and should UK society adjust to dementia? (July 2015)
This Joseph Rowntree Foundation paper explores the application of the ‘social model’ of disability to dementia. It aims to stimulate debate about new ways forward in understanding, and ways to meet the needs of the growing number of people living with dementia.

Background information related to Dementia
This can be found on the Public Health England website.

Government Policy on Dementia
This can be found on the GOV.uk website and the Dementia Challenge can be found on The National Archives website.

Dementia maps of variation and state of the nation report 
Department of Health has published maps of variation and state of the nation report into the range and provision of dementia care and support services in England. 

The Carers Call to Action
Dementia Action Alliance have produced a PDF version of their booklet written by carers for carers of people living with dementia about their shared vision called The Carers' Call to Action. They have also produced a 20 point checklist to identify where the gaps and the strengths are in local areas.

Improving care for people with dementia
Government website carrying a range of information to help support the care of people with dementia. Access the GOV.uk website for more information.