Dementia Care - Four Seasons are a step ahead

With reference to the news on 15th June regarding the report on care of people with dementia, Four Seasons Health Care have followed this with interest and welcomed the points raised. As one of the largest independent providers of Health Care we have seen how some private sector providers have already recognised the important issues of staff training, investment and a respectful person centred approach to care prior to the Government highlighting this as an area of concern.

At Four Seasons Health Care we placed dementia care as a high priority for the company 12 months ago and launched a Specialist service called PEARL (Positively Enriching and Enhancing Residents Lives) Dementia Service recognizing the need for a highly specialist dementia care team.

The initial PEARL Project has just completed its first phase successfully with eight homes now validated and 52 new homes are now being prepared for validation at the end of this year. We have trained over 2000 staff in Person Centred Care. This has proven successful with the use of drugs and medication having been significantly reduced by people with dementia by as much as a 64%. We are also delighted that the Department of Health's director of social care, leadership and performance Glen Mason, presented two awards for Excellence to Four Seasons Health Care for their excellence and illustration of best practice in developing dementia care as a specialist care service last month.

Although our scheme has only recently progressed from the pilot stage to now being rolled out across over 50 homes this year, we have seen excellent results that go some way to validating the recommendations of this report. However I think it is important to note that care homes have begun the process and residents have already seen the benefits.

Pete Calveley
CEO, Four Seasons Health Care

Bookmark with:
DeliciousDiggRedditFacebookStumbleupon