Supporting patients with Alzheimer’s at Medway: John’s Campaign and The Butterfly Scheme

Date: 21 September 2017

Members of our Dementia and Delirium Team

This World Alzheimer’s Day, Medway NHS Foundation Trust is proud to share some of our initiatives to support our patients who have Alzheimer’s and dementia.

John’s Campaign is a national scheme introduced in 2014, supporting carers of patients with dementia by providing them with the opportunity to visit hospital as often as they wish at any time of day or night.

The campaign was named after Alzheimer’s patient Dr John Gerrard, who spent five weeks in hospital in February 2014 to receive treatment for infected leg ulcers. During his stay, visits from his family and carers were drastically reduced due to an infection outbreak, which caused his Alzheimer’s symptoms to significantly worsen and drastically reduce his overall quality of life. He sadly passed away just months later.

We are proud to be among the 400 wards, hospitals and other institutions, along with a number of politicians, which have pledged their support to the campaign. The principles behind it are simple – when someone with dementia is hospitalised, clinical staff should do all within their power to make access easy for family carers.

To support John’s campaign at Medway, our staff are actively engaging the families and carers of patients with dementia, and our Dementia Team have also produced cards for carers to carry, identifying them to staff that they are permitted to visit at any time.

Additionally, further support for patients is offered through the Butterfly Scheme, which allows people with memory impairment to request a specific form of personalised care during hospitalisation. This voluntary initiative allows patients to have a discreet image of a butterfly above their bed and on the cover of their medical notes, indicating to staff that they may need additional attention and support while in hospital.

For more information visit John’s Campaign or The Butterfly Scheme 

If you are a carer for a dementia patient at Medway, please ask a member of staff for details or contact Dementia Clinical Nurse Specialist Joanne Dron.

 

  • Summary:

    This World Alzheimer’s Day, Medway NHS Foundation Trust is proud to share some of our initiatives to support our patients who have Alzheimer’s and dementia.