Providing high quality health and care to people with dementia is one of the greatest challenges facing the South of England.

In 2011 there are an estimated 175,000 people with dementia in the South of England (over 1% of the population): of these less than half are known to health and care services.

By 2025 it is estimated that that figure will have increased to a quarter of a million people living with dementia in the South. It is our job to ensure that they, and their carers, have as full and healthy a life as possible.

This Challenge is for Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs), working with local authorities, Health and Wellbeing Boards, the NHS, the voluntary and community and independent sectors, universities, industry, and people with lived experience, to identify and implement practical solutions to the problems faced by people living with dementia.

This Fund provides an opportunity for local communities across the South to respond to the Prime Minister’s Dementia Challenge, which he launched on 26 March 2012. Geoff Harris (NHS SoE Chairman) has highlighted five opportunities that he proposes bids address:

Engagement between local authorities and the local NHS with the voluntary and community, and independent sectors, universities and industry to come up with solutions to the practical problems faced by living with dementia. Health and Wellbeing Boards will be an obvious partner for the progressing this work locally.

Ways to apply and disseminate innovation, and reduce the 17 year gap that it takes proven best practice in health and care to become widely adopted, so that people living with dementia can benefit from progress, rapidly.

Combine this funding with local matched resources to enable health and local authority commissioners to make an immediate difference to the lives of people living with dementia; and to create a springboard to a sustainable future.

Share and spread the benefits of innovations so that people with dementia and their carers across the South benefits from the pioneering work in centres of excellence.

 
An opportunity for the new clinical commissioning groups to build on their relationships with partners and co-ordinate proposals for a wide range of innovative whole system approaches.

 
We are asking all the proposal in a locality are submitted through the lead Clinical Commissioning Group as one joined-up application, detailing the different organisations and sectors where the funding will be used. Proposals should be submitted based on agreements between the local partners.

In preparing their application, applicants will want to consider and refer to the Prime Minister’s Dementia Challenge (2012), the National Dementia Strategy (2009), and Quality outcomes for people with dementia (2010).