Dementia service could come here

NHS Lanarkshire has been trialing a service to provide assistance to help people with dementia use local shops and services and maintain their independence. The temporary trial is being conducted in Motherwell and NHS Lanarkshire expects to plan a wider rollout of the initiative around September.

A spokesman said: “We are keen to replicate the success of the Motherwell Dementia Friendly Town Centre initiative in all parts of Lanarkshire. It has already attracted interest across the UK and beyond. We expect to know the outcome of the evaluation in September when we will have an agreed plan for what will be rolled out where and the timescales for this.”

Cumbernauld and Kilsyth MSP Jamie Hepburn has already written to NHS Lanarkshire’s chief executive Ian Ross, requesting that the service is brought to this constituency.

He said: “The dementia friendly community initiative is a great project - it empowers business and shops to give simple, practical assistance to the two thirds of people with dementia who live in the community and gives dementia sufferers the confidence to keep active in the community.

“There can be very few of us who have not seen the effects of dementia on relatives and friends. The dementia friendly initiative should be expanded to benefit other communities in North Lanarkshire. I have written to Ian Ross, the Chief Executive of NHS Lanarkshire, congratulating him on the Motherwell project and asking what plans there are to roll it out to areas such as Cumbernauld and Kilsyth.”