National Audit of Dementia – National Report published
National Audit of Dementia (care in general hospitals) published its fifth National Report on 10 August.
Key findings include a notable increase in the number of patients screened for delirium, a very high risk for people with dementia.
Round 5 of the audit used a new sampling methodology and this has shown that many hospitals do not have adequate systems in place which allow them to identify people who are living with dementia when they are admitted to hospital, which affects planning, resourcing and monitoring, as well as delivery of care.
This is a key governance challenge for hospitals and addressed by the top recommendation in the report.
The report also highlights the proportion of pain assessments for people with dementia which do not use a structured pain tool. NICE guidance recommends this for people with moderate-severe dementia.
Feedback from 2,273 carers is also featured, showing an overall decrease in positive responses about the quality of care from the last report in 2019.
Data was collected over the autumn and winter 2022-23 and this may reflect the early onset of winter pressures in general hospitals, combined with prolonged impact of the pandemic and chronic staff shortages.