Rochdale care home gets pioneering dementia champion

A care home in Rochdale will be one of the first in the country to have a specially trained Dementia Champion to bring even higher standards of dementia care to residents.

Cath Mottram who is a Senior Care Assistant at Bupa’s Carders Court Residential and Nursing Home has just completed the pioneering Alzheimer’s Society programme.

Bupa joined with the Alzheimer’s Society to pilot and launch the Dementia Champion programme to develop specialist in-house leaders in 130 Bupa care homes across the UK. The champions are trained to harness their own leadership skills and challenge everyone in the home to drive and deliver the highest quality dementia care by working with staff to change the culture of the workplace.

Cath Mottram, Dementia Champion, at Carders Court Residential and Nursing Home says: “I am delighted Bupa gave me the opportunity to be one of the first Dementia Champions in the country. The Alzheimer’s Society programme has given me more advanced skills and techniques on how to communicate with our residents who are living with dementia, and also how to help my colleagues develop further.

“My role is all about understanding the world from the viewpoint of someone living with dementia and providing care and services that are really tailored to their individual needs, while also ensuring that my colleagues understand the importance of every interaction they have with residents.”

Bupa’s Carders Court Residential and Nursing Home is part of a national programme which will see more than 190 staff from all Bupa’s dementia specialist units being trained as Dementia Champions. As the first company to launch the programme, Bupa care homes are currently the only ones to have these new Dementia Champions, trained by the Alzheimer’s Society.

Graham Stokes, Director of Dementia Care at Bupa says: “Bupa is committed to providing highly-personalised care for people living with dementia. We believe that this specialist training is a key factor in ensuring residents enjoy the best possible quality of life. The Dementia Champions programme aims to improve quality of care and quality of life for people living with dementia. As a healthcare leader, it’s a goal everybody at Bupa shares.”

A pilot scheme undertaken last year paved the way for the Dementia Champions, It showed that if the right people are trained to be Dementia Champions and are supported by their managers, there are significant improvements in the lives and daily experiences of people with dementia.

Neil Hunt, Chief Executive, Alzheimer’s Society says: “Alzheimer’s Society is delighted that Bupa is creating a Dementia Champion at Carders Court Residential and Nursing Home. Delivering good dementia care is a skilled task and staff need access to continuous development. It is not enough simply to tick a box and say someone has been trained. The drive to improve care needs to be ongoing and the whole culture of the workplace needs to change. That’s what Bupa and Alzheimer’s Society are seeking to achieve with this programme.”