Overarching principles
The overarching principles that have guided the development of
our standards are that:
- People with memory problems/dementia should
have fair access to assessment, care and treatment on the basis of
need, irrespective of age, gender, social or cultural background,
and are not excluded from services because of their diagnosis, age
or co-existing disabilities/medical problems.
- People with memory problems/dementia and
their carers should receive a service that is person-centred and
takes into account their unique and changing personal, psychosocial
and physical needs.
What the standards cover
Memory services differ widely in their
organisation, funding, staffing and levels of service, even within
the same Trust.
The standards therefore currently centre on
‘function’, rather than any particular model of service
delivery.
At this stage, the core
standards and criteria focus mainly on ‘assessment’ and
‘diagnosis’, as these have been identified nationally as the common
function of memory services.
In the third edition of the MSNAP standards
standards, a number of standards on the pharmacological treatment
of dementia have been added to the core set.
There is also a new optional
module on psychosocial interventions that MSNAP members
can opt-in to being reviewed against.
The standards currently cover these
domains:
- Management systems for the service
- Resources available to support assessment and
diagnosis
- Assessment and diagnosis
- Pharmacological interventions
- Signposting to ongoing care management and
follow up
- Optional module: Psychosocial interventions
Download a
copy of the standards.
Reflecting the views of those in the field
We know that those who are in the field have
the best understanding of the issues and challenges that they face
in providing high quality care.
The standards are drawn from relevant
policies, guidelines and research literature and have been
developed in consultation with our members, our partner
organisations and service user and carer networks.
Keeping up to date
We review the standards each year to ensure that they continue
to reflect developments in policy and practice and any issues
identified through the accreditation process.
A multidisciplinary standards development group, comprising of
representatives from MSNAP member services, our partner
organisations, and service user and carer representatives, is
responsible for the revision process.
The third edition standards were published in June 2012, and
these will be due for revision again in October
2013.
How we measure performance against the standards
The full set of standards and criteria is aspirational and it is
unlikely that any service would meet all of them. Therefore,
services are categorised against each standard at one of three
levels:
Type 1: failure to meet these
standards could result in a significant threat to the safety,
rights or dignity of service users and/or would breach the
law.
These standards must be met for a service to
be accredited
Type 2: standards that an
accredited service would be expected to meet
Type 3: standards that an
excellent service should meet or standards that are not the direct
responsibility of the service
|