Bracknell

Innovative working has put Bracknell Forest Borough Council's dementia team in the running for a national care award.

The team was nominated in the Skills for Care Accolades 2007 earlier this year and has just been short-listed in the 'most innovative new type of worker or way of working' category.

The Bracknell team was nominated by David Shinegold, who worked to set up the team and successfully develop it alongside other Council employees. The awards are one of the most prestigious events on the national social care calendar and seek to find excellence in social care across the UK.

Regional judges will be visiting the team today (Friday, July 27) to confirm information that was submitted in support of the nomination and to clarify any points raised by the judging panel.

If the team is selected to go through to the next round they will then stand a chance of winning one of the prestigious accolades in October, where the winners will be announced at a gala evening in London.

The Bracknell dementia team was set up in 2005 and follows an innovative approach to providing services. This means the person receiving support, as well as their family and carers, is at the centre of all care, support and help which in turn means they get what they want from the service not what the Council tells them they should have.

The original aim of the team was to ensure people in the borough with dementia could live independently in their own homes for as long as possible so they didn't have to be admitted to hospital or a care home. It also aimed to get people in hospital with dementia discharged and living in their own environment as quickly as possible.

By the end of the team's first year the waiting list for dementia care at Heatherwood Hospital was reduced to zero, the first time in many years, and 15 of the 33 service users in the borough had been prevented from having to go into residential or nursing home care.

Ian Davey, Director of Bracknell Social Services and Housing, said: "The team has worked really hard to make sure that the best possible support, advice and help is available to people living at home with dementia as well as their friends, family and carers.

"Being short-listed in the Skills for Care Accolades is a great honour and reflects all the hard work that the team has put in since it started in 2005. We've now all got our fingers crossed that the judges see just how innovative the team has been by giving them a place in the final."

Cllr Dale Birch, Executive Member for Bracknell Adult Services, Health and Housing, said: "To be short-listed in such a prestigious social care award is fantastic news and I'm pleased that the team has been recognised on a national scale.

"Providing high-quality care to vulnerable people in the borough is one of our top priorities and we are committed to offering the best possible care and support to people with dementia, their families and carers. I'd like to pass on my congratulations to the team and hope the judges recognise, as we do, the dedication of our staff and just what a good service we provide."

Bracknell Forest Borough Council