THE CAMBRIDGE HOSTS SPECIALIST DEMENTIA SEMINAR

Bupa’s The Cambridge Nursing Centre, Chesterton, Cambridge, recently hosted a dementia seminar at St Andrew’s Hall, Chesterton to raise awareness of dementia care at the home and provide a greater understanding of the condition. Specialist guest speakers on the day included Charlotte Skelly, Dementia Support Worker for the Alzheimer’s Society; Alisdair Sinclair, Registered Mental Health Nurse at The Cambridge Nursing Centre and Bupa’s Dr Graham Stokes, Director of Dementia Care who spoke extensively on the subject of ‘Caring for people with dementia. Myth or reality? The challenge facing care homes’. A question and answer session, with Sue Carter home manager at The Cambridge closed the event. The Cambridge is a purpose-built home and was extensively refurbished in 2008. Offering an excellent standard of care, the home provides specialist nursing, dementia and convalescence care and can provide care for those with Parkinson’s disease, as well as palliative and respite care. In a recent annual independent survey of care home residents at The Cambridge, results revealed that 100% of residents rated the homes buildings and surroundings and the staff as ‘excellent’ and/or ‘very good’. The event was extremely successful and encouraged a number of attendees to book appointments to view the facilities on offer at the home. Over 30 guests including those from the Alzheimer’s Society, the local Primary Care Trust, members of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, and healthcare professionals attended the event. Sue Carter, home manager at Bupa’s The Cambridge Nursing Centre said: “We have had a good number of enquiries which have arisen from the dementia event and all the comments about the event were extremely positive. The guest speakers were very well received and many who attended booked future appointments to view the homes facilities. Dementia affects over 7,000 people in the UK and The Cambridge has an outstanding reputation in caring for residents with the condition.”