Dementia service receives prestigious accreditation

A dementia service in Colchester has received a prestigious accreditation endorsed by the Royal College of Psychiatrists.

The Memory Assessment Service run by Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (EPUT) has been formally accredited by the Memory Services National Accreditation Programme (MSNAP), a quality improvement network for services that assess, diagnose and treat dementia.

MSNAP awards accreditations to services that demonstrate good quality care and a commitment to continually improving the service they offer.

The Memory Assessment Service, based at The King’s Wood Centre in Turner Road, cares for people living with dementia and early on-set dementia who have concerns about their memory and have noticed changes to the way their memory works.

As well as memory assessments and intervention, the service provides specialist nurses to work in care homes, intensive treatment to help people with complex needs continue living in their homes and Admiral nurses to provide support to carers.

The team also runs therapy groups, a 24-hour crisis phone line and occupational therapy sessions to help people living with dementia maintain as much independence as possible.

The team began working towards the accreditation in December last year, undertaking a series of self-reviews and peer reviews against a set of standards around care, staffing, management and treatment.

An Accreditation Committee made of up professionals representing the Royal College of GPs, British Psychological Society, Royal College of Nursing and other health groups judged the service to have met the necessary standards and awarded the accreditation on October 3, 2019.

Robert Chandler, Transformation Lead for Mental Health at North East Essex Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) said: “We are delighted that the Colchester Memory Assessment Service has again received this prestigious accreditation.

“It is testament to the hard work and dedication of the team to support people with concerns about changes to their memory and their families.

“Supporting continued improvements to mental health care is one of our key priorities as part of the Long Term Plan for our area, and this achievement is a representation of the fantastic work that is taking place.”

Andy Brogan, Executive Chief Operating Officer at EPUT, said: “We are immensely proud to have received accreditation from the Memory Services National Accreditation Programme

“Achieving an accreditation like this is well-deserved recognition of the Memory Assessment team’s hard work and commitment to providing high quality care to patients living with dementia as well as their families and carers.

“Our work doesn’t stop there however. As a service we are committed to continually working to improve our services and, in turn, the lives of our patients.”

The Memory Assessment Service Team