Greater Manchester’s best practice delirium webinar 26th April 2023

The delirium best practice webinar was a great success, with over 150 attendees representing a broad spectrum of backgrounds and services

30 years as a GP and one of the best webinars I have attended. (General Practitioner)

What is Delirium?

Delirium is a condition which causes a short-term confused state and develops over hours and days. It causes short term problems with memory, concentration, attention and personality. It occurs when a person is medically unwell and can be caused by several things, such as infections, pain or constipation. People living with dementia are more likely to experience delirium. People may go on to develop delirium, whether they are in hospital, in a care home or living at home.

Delirium best practice webinar

 The delirium best practice webinar was a great success, with over 150 attendees representing a broad spectrum of backgrounds and services. We had representation from all 10 localities of Greater Manchester and a wide range of services and organisations attended including from across the UK.

This has been amazingly educational and very valuable for our work supporting citizens in the community; great to know how much support is available for sufferers of delirium. (Reablement services)

Very well presented and it is the BEST webinar I have ever attended.” (Memory Assessment Team)

This webinar hosted by Dementia United had a wide range of speakers covering the following topics:

  • John O’Doherty, lived experience advisor – A powerful personal account from John who lives with dementia and has experienced delirium, and a discussion of the value of lived experience of delirium in raising awareness
  • Scott Mather, Consultant Physician & Geriatrician – Presentation on what delirium is, and why it is so important to detect it
  • Helen Pratt, Project Manager Dementia United – An introduction to Greater Manchester’s delirium standards and resources
  • David Nielson, Lead Admiral Nurse, and Ella Balmer, Specialist Nurse Coordinator at Bolton NHS Foundation trust – Bolton Hospital’s delirium and dementia simulation training; Enhanced Care and Support Team offer for people with delirium
  • Mel Safari, Professional local Translation & Interpreting – Lessons learned in co-producing translated resources
  • Caroline Harvey and Francine Whittaker, Trafford Local Care Organisation – Challenges and solutions when rolling out the community delirium toolkit in Trafford
  • Chaired by Emma Vardy, Consultant Geriatrician, Clinical Lead for the delirium programme, Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust

The key takeaways from the webinar, according to attendees:

  • The importance of hearing from people with lived experience.
  • Best practice in delirium, and a better awareness of all the hard work being done across GM.
  • Information and resources to share with colleagues.

Patient lived experience was very powerful and informative. It’s amazing just how much great work is happening across GM. I will be sharing the learning tools with colleagues/staff.

Lived experience – as a professional this is so interesting to hear. What assessment tools are used. What the development is in GM in terms of Delirium.

An awareness of what is being doing in GM, Assessment tools that are used, lived experience was brilliant to hear.

I will share the hospital toolkit with Bury colleagues to look at utilizing the delirium tools.

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