Thanks to a recent grant of £7,500 awarded to Greenwich & Bexley Cottage Hospice, the Hospice, based in Abbey Wood, is now able to pilot a ground-breaking project to reach out to a small group of dementia patients in the London Borough of Bexley.

The money has been awarded through a major grant programme funded by the Burdett Trust for Nursing and managed by Help the Hospices, the leading charity supporting hospice care throughout the UK.

Maaike Vandeweghe, Specialist Practice Development Nurse Manager at Greenwich & Bexley Cottage Hospice said: "We are absolutely delighted to have been awarded this grant, which will help us to try a model to better support people from the Bexley Borough with Dementia, as well as their friends and families. The project aims to increase awareness of the end of life care needs of dementia patients. More dementia patients should have access to specialist palliative care and be cared for in the place and manner of their choosing. The Hospice hopes to build closer partnerships with other dementia services and raise levels of satisfaction for dementia sufferers and their carers."

Recent reports and research have highlighted the shortcomings in the current provision of dementia services in the UK. Dementia presents a huge challenge to society, both now and increasingly in the future.

There are currently 700,000 people in the UK with dementia with an estimated cost of £17 billion a year and, in the next 30 years, the number of people with dementia in the UK will double to 1.4 million, with care costs trebling to over £50 billion a year.

Dementia not only has a devastating impact on those with the disorder, but also has profound effects on family members who provide the majority of care.

Contrary to social misconception, there is a very great deal that can be done to help people with dementia. Services need to be re-engineered so that dementia is diagnosed early and well and so that people with dementia and their family carers can receive the treatment, care and support following diagnosis that will enable them to live as well as possible with dementia(Department of Health, 2009).

To find out more about the Greenwich & Bexley Cottage Hospice Dementia Project in the London Borough of Bexley please contact Maaike Vandeweghe at maaikevandeweghe@gbch.org.uk or by calling 020 8320 5781.