The Mayor of Wirral joined NHS teams, patients, carers and community organisations to champion safer, more dementia friendly care across Wirral.
Councillor Mary Jordan visited World Patient Safety Day events at St Catherine’s Health Centre and Arrowe Park Hospital on Thursday 17 September, bringing together colleagues from Wirral University Teaching Hospital (WUTH) and Wirral Community Health and Care (WCHC), alongside local partners.
The events focused on promoting safe care for people living with dementia and showcased how hospital, community and partner services are working together to provide more joined up support for people across Wirral.
Local organisations including Alzheimer’s Society Wirral, Age UK Wirral, Healthwatch Wirral and Wired joined NHS teams to speak with patients, carers, families and members of the public about the support available locally.
Visitors had the opportunity to find out more about living well with dementia, support available for carers and families, and ways people can reduce their risk of dementia and promote good brain health.
The events also brought health and care professionals together to share expertise, strengthen connections between services and support the shared ambition of creating a dementia friendly Wirral.
Councillor Mary Jordan has extensive experience of working in dementia care, having previously served as a dementia project lead across Cheshire and Merseyside and later the North West Coast.
Reflecting on her visit, she said: “I want to see a dementia friendly borough where everybody is aware of dementia and understands how people with dementia see the world, and where that world is accepting of them and allows them to live as normal a life as possible.
“It’s great to see the work that’s being done for dementia and particularly to see that focus on living well.
“Once you diagnose somebody with dementia, you can’t just leave them. You’ve got to give them support to enable them to live their life as normally as they possibly can.
“Just because they’ve got a diagnosis, it doesn’t mean life is over. Life can carry on for as long as it can.”
Janelle Holmes, Joint Chief Executive at WUTH and WCHC, said: “Providing safe, compassionate and person-centred care for people living with dementia is a priority across all of our services.
People living with dementia may need help from different health and care services at different stages of their lives. By bringing together the expertise of our hospital and community teams, and working closely with partners across Wirral, we can provide more joined-up care and a better experience for patients, carers and families.
World Patient Safety Day is a valuable opportunity to bring those teams together, raise awareness of the help available and highlight our shared commitment to making Wirral a place where people living with dementia feel understood, valued and safe.”
World Patient Safety Day is marked internationally each year on 17 September to raise awareness and encourage action to improve patient safety.
As part of Wirral’s activities to mark the day, St Catherine’s Health Centre and Arrowe Park Hospital were also illuminated orange, the colour associated with World Patient Safety Day.
