Funder: NIHR, £293,805.45

PI: Mike Crawford (Imperial)

Collaborators: Crome P (University College London), Staniszewska S (RCN RI, WMS), Seers K (RCN RI, WMS), Quirk A (Royal College of Psychiatrists), Wallace D, Royal College of Psychiatrists, Burns A (Manchester)

Dates: 1/07/2016 to: 30/06/2018

The overall aim of the study is to identify aspects of the organisation and delivery of general hospital In-patient services that are associated with better quality care and shorter length of stay for people with dementia and to understand how the way that hospitals and wards are organised influences the quality of care that people receive.

To meet this aim our objectives are:

1. To conduct a secondary analysis of quantitative data from the third round of the National Audit of Dementia to identify features of wards and hospitals that are associated with higher quality of assessment, shorter length of admission, and better carer-rated experience of care.

2. To undertake qualitative case studies of high and low performing hospitals to understand how aspects of organisational form and function including staffing levels, staff training, access to liaison mental health teams and deployment of specialist dementia nurses impacts on the quality of care that people with dementia receive.

3. To develop recommendations for commissioners, providers and users of acute inpatient services about the optimal organisation and delivery of services for people with dementia.

Progress: The first phase of the study, an analysis of national audit data is underway.