A MENTAL health service provider in Worcestershire is the first in the UK to lend its support to a national campaign to improve the comfort of people with dementia and their carers.

Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust has become the first mental health inpatient provider to back 'John’s campaign', which aims to give the carers of those living with dementia the right to stay with them in hospital, in the same way that parents stay with their sick children.

It was launched in November 2014 after the death of Dr John Gerrard, whose family believe his health declined faster in hospital because his loved ones were not allowed to stay with him.

As well as offering the option for carers of those with dementia on the New Haven Mental Health Unit in Bromsgrove and on Athelon Ward in Worcester, the Trust has also extended the principle to carers of those with functional mental health needs, such as schizophrenia, severe depression or psychosis.

Dr Natasha Lord, clinical psychologist for Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust, said: “It is demonstrably clear that a hospital stay can be a distressing, scary and potentially damaging experience for a person with dementia or for those with mental health difficulties, and that the close involvement of their carers hugely improves the quality of their care.

"Carers have an intimate knowledge of the patient and can support and comfort them. But these carers also need support, comfort and recognition, and at the Trust's Older Patient Inpatient Mental Health Service, we are working to make this happen. We want to care for the carer.”

To encourage carer engagement, staff work with them to get a full life story of the vulnerable patient, finding out about their past work, their family life, their needs and preferences, likes and dislikes. When their relative or friend arrives on one of the Trust’s mental health wards they receive a carers’ leaflet so that they know what resources are available and what they can expect.

Carers can stay with the patient and there is also a carers’ room – a dedicated space, where carers can access information, find support and help, or stay overnight if this is what they need. Alongside this, the Trust has educational support for carers, giving books on prescription, links to external services and tailored sessions. In this way we hope to make carers into a valued and supported community.

For more information visit www.johnscampaign.org.uk.