HSE National Dementia Services hosts Memory Assessment Services Symposium

HSE National Dementia Services hosted a Memory Assessment Services Symposium in partnership with the Dementia Services Information Development Services (DSiDC) at the Tangent, Trinity College Dublin today.

The purpose of this symposium was to bring together staff currently working in memory assessment and diagnostic services across the country, including HSE clinicians, researchers, voluntary agencies, and people living with dementia to celebrate what has been achieved to date, what is currently being developed and what is the future vision for dementia services in Ireland.

Memory Assessment Services, guided by the Model of Care for Dementia in Ireland, offers a framework to align a wide range of services into a coherent pathway for people living with dementia. This includes identification of symptoms, assessment, diagnosis, care planning and post diagnostic supports.

At the event, Minister for Older People and Housing, Kieran O’Donnell, TD , also announced the commencement of implementation of a National Dementia Registry for Ireland.

Ireland currently lacks a systematic approach to the collection and analysis of dementia data. As the numbers of those, living with dementia increases there is a need to develop an Irish Dementia Registry. High-quality clinical care has been shown to improve outcomes for people with dementia and for their family caregivers. A National Dementia Registry for the people of Ireland will provide an effective framework for the collection of reliable, accurate, valid, complete and timely dementia data that will guide service delivery, support research, inform policy and align with the Model of Care for Dementia in Ireland (2023) recommendations. Significantly, the Registry will allow the HSE to plan for future services and supports more accurately and shape the development of dementia services across the country.

Announcing the development of the National Dementia Registry at the Memory Services Symposium today, Dr Seán O’Dowd, Consultant Neurologist and Clinical Lead of HSE National Dementia Services said: “The Memory Assessment Services Symposium offers staff working across the dementia services network an opportunity to hear of latest developments in dementia care across the spectrum of the syndrome, and to share their experiences of working in the field. Speakers bring expertise from primary care, through Level 2 Memory Assessment and Support Services, to Level 3 Regional Specialist Memory Clinics, as well the unique service offered by the National Intellectual Disability Memory Service.

“With the recent licensing of the first disease-modifying therapy for early-stage Alzheimer disease, the realisation of these targets has never been more important, and further support will be needed to ensure timely diagnosis. This must not compromise access to appropriate person-centred care and supports for the great number of people who will not be eligible for such treatments””

Alice McGinley, Head of Service, Community Healthcare Networks & Integrated Care Programme for Older People (ICPOP) Lead, HSE added: “I am delighted to be part of this Memory Assessment Services Symposium today. The Enhanced Community Care (ECC) Programme objective is to deliver increased levels of health care, with service delivery reoriented towards general practice, primary care and community-based services.

“The focus is on implementing an end-to-end care pathway that will care for people at home and over time prevent referrals and admissions to acute hospitals where it is safe and appropriate to do so and enable a “home first” approach. The work completed by National Dementia Services aligns very well with the objectives of ECC and in particular, a number of Memory Assessment Support Services (MASS) teams are co-located with ICPOP Community Specialist Teams resulting in very positive synergies.”

Living with dementia, Charlie Drake explained: “As a person living with dementia since 2019, I’m delighted to have been part of this Symposium and to share my journey with the many diligent staff that assess, diagnose and support people with dementia across the country every day. Its almost 2 years since I attended the launch of the Model of Care for Dementia in Ireland in May 2023 and it’s fantastic to see the progress since then.  It’s so important that we continue to increase these services across the country, people who think they may have a dementia need to be seen as quickly as possible. They need the support and their family need the support of these services too. A timely diagnosis offers the person with dementia time to plan for the future, and to make sure the necessary help and supports are in place. I am very much convinced that progress will continue to be made and the announcement that an Irish Dementia Registry will be developed is another example of that progress.”