Bradford Dementia Group Awarded Funding Grant from Department of Health

Bradford Dementia Group, University of Bradford have been awarded over £60,000 from the Department of Health to support the delivery and development of a Postgraduate Course for Practitioners with a Special Interest in Dementia.

Members of Bradford Dementia Group successfully submitted a bid for funding, from the Department of Health who are particularly keen to award funding to projects that focussed on areas of dementia workforce development, which had previously not been funded and identified as national priorities.

The funding will support the tuition fees for fifteen students on the Postgraduate Certificate for Practitioners with a Special Interest in Dementia for the next academic year, in addition to an evaluation of the impact of the services students provide for patients and their families. This innovative new programme run by Bradford Dementia Group, University of Bradford, directly addresses government priorities for early diagnosis and support for people with dementia.

The programme is aimed at students from a variety of clinical backgrounds working in health care settings, where diagnostic services and on-going support for people with dementia care are currently or are planned to be provided. The course will enable them to develop high level skills in assessment, diagnosis and on-going support for people with dementia and their carers.

GPs, Practice Nurses, Nurse Practitioners, Nurse Consultants and staff working in Memory Assessment Services from three Clinical Commissioning Groups are among those who will benefit from this exciting new programme.

Bradford Dementia Group will also be working with the Clinical Commissioning Groups who engage with this programme to evaluate the impact of the course, which will support continued development, evaluation and dissemination of the programme.

Dr Sarah Smith, Programme Leader for the Post Graduate Certificate for Practitioners with a Special Interest in Dementia, comments, “We are delighted to have been successful with this bid and to be working with the Department of Health and Clinical Commissioning Groups on this prestigious project. We hope that we can continue to develop this programme through working in partnership with Clinical Commissioning Groups to provide better quality diagnosis and ongoing support for people with dementia.”