Nursing leaders have urged ministers to speed up a plan to tackle the dementia care gap in Scotland's old people's homes.
The Herald revealed yesterday that only around one in ten of Scotland's care homes was listed as specialising in dementia care. However experts believe 70-90% of all care home residents have a dementia diagnosis or are likely to suffer from the symptoms.
Meanwhile a Scottish Government report designed to address the care gap in old people's homes is months overdue.
When ministers launched their latest dementia strategy in June 2013, they acknowledged care homes were increasingly providing specialist care for people with dementia. The strategy included a pledge to review the purpose and structure of residential care homes by autumn 2013, with a strategy to follow. However a report from the national task force set up to review the issue has yet to be published.
Theresa Fyffe, director of RCN Scotland, said the need to improve standards was pressing. "As Scotland's population gets older and more and more people with complex healthcare needs such as dementia live in care homes, the Scottish Government urgently needs to come up with a plan to make sure we have a skilled and trained workforce able to provide good quality care," she said. She said national workforce planning was needed to ensure individual care homes have enough appropriately skilled nurses and nursing staff, adding: "We need to value the increasingly important role that staff have in caring for older people and this should be reflected in pay, conditions, training and career development.
"The onus is on the Scottish Government and others to get this right so that care in care homes is up to scratch and can meet increasing demand."
Jim Pearson, Alzheimer's Scotland's deputy policy director said previous strategies had focused on hospitals not care homes.
He said a renewed focus on residential homes was welcome, adding: "The 2013-16 dementia strategy has started to shift the focus towards improving care homes and how they provide specialist care and end of life care. But it was due in August."
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: "Care homes and their workforces will increasingly be concerned with providing specialist care, including end-of-life care, for people with dementia Last year The Scottish Government set up a National Task Force on the future of residential care in Scotland. This will produce a report shortly."
The Government is also working to better identify those who have dementia in care homes.
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