Bracknell

The team carrying out pioneering work to help Bracknell Forests residents with dementia live as independently as possible have won national recognition in one of the UK's biggest care awards.

Bracknell Forest Borough Council's dementia team won the most innovative new type of worker or way of working category at the Skills for Care Accolades last month.

But it was a double celebration for the Bracknell team who scooped the top award of Winner of Winners after judges praised their work for being outstanding in achieving its objective of helping people with dementia live in their own homes for as long as practically possible.

The team were honoured at a glittering ceremony held at the Landmark Hotel in London for their hard work and innovation. The awards, run by Skills for Care, are recognised as a benchmark for excellence in social care across the country and are comparable to the Oscars in the caring sector.

The Bracknell Council's team was nominated by David Shinegold, who worked to set up the team and successfully develop it alongside other Council employees, earlier this year. Regional judges were so impressed by the team's hard work and what it had achieved that they put it straight through to the finals.

It was the team's innovation that received praise from judges at the awards. The dementia team was set up in 2005 and provides services by placing the person receiving support, as well as their family and carers,at the centre of all care, meaning 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 Bracknell 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.

Glyn Jones, Assistant Director of Bracknell Community Care, said: "To be recognised on such a national scale is a real honour and I'm pleased the dementia team's innovation and hard work has been recognised as excellent."

Cllr Dale Birch, Executive Member for Adult Services, Health and Housing, said: "The dementia team's award is fantastic news and I'm delighted that not only did they win their category but they also won the prestigious Winner of Winners award. A very big congratulations to the team."

"These awards reflect just how hard we are working at the Council to make sure we offer the right services and the very best services we can for Bracknell Forest residents."

Andrea Rowe, Skills for Care Chief Executive Officer, added: "The Skills for Care Accolades are the Oscars of the social care world and Bracknell Forest deserved to take the winner of winners prize after really impressing the judges with their innovative approach to making sure people with dementia were treated with respect and could remain in their own homes."

Bracknell Forest Borough Council