New dementia hub could be created in Portsmouth to help carers who feel 'isolated in a broken system'

A new dementia hub could be built in Portsmouth to try to fix a “system that feels broken”.

The plans are being drawn up because dementia carers are left with a “strong feeling of isolation”. Andy Biddle, the council’s director of adult social care, has said this is why the authority is exploring the possibility of a new support and advice hub.

The council outlined the plans as it provided an update on its dementia strategy on July 13.

Mr Biddle said the current strategy is out of date and needs to be refreshed using the latest data, guidance and feedback from local residents.

Speaking about current dementia services in the city, he said “people struggle to navigate them and don’t feel that support is joined up”.

He added that carers and residents “struggle to navigate” existing services, which are “not always person centred” and can leave people with a “strong feeling of isolation”.

A council report adds that carers are left to “navigate a system that feels broken and unable to respond”.

The council provides day services for people with dementia at the Royal Albert Day Centre (RADC). It also runs the Shearwater and Harry Sotnick House care homes, as well as the Remind service in partnership with Solent Mind.

Mr Biddle said a new dementia hub would provide an easy access point for people to access advice and support any stage of their dementia diagnosis.

The council is exploring a number of options, with the hub likely to be based in an existing council building in the south of the city.

The report states that the RADC on Nuffield Place, Landport “could be utilised as part of this work offering a potential site for such a 'hub' or access point”.

Councillor Graham Heaney raised concerns about the hub being located in the south, warning that people living in the north of the city could struggle to travel there.

Mr Biddle said that while the hub “may be located on the island”, it would be the council’s aim “to take that into account to ensure we don’t have any inequities of access”.

Cllr Matthew Winnington, cabinet member for community wellbeing, health and care, said that while the council is looking at a southern location, “we would certainly want something in the north”, ideally on the mainland.

He pointed to local government reorganisation, which would merge councils in Portsmouth, Fareham, Gosport and Havant, suggesting a northern dementia facility could also serve surrounding areas.

About one in 11 people over the age of 65 have dementia, and the number is projected to exceed 1.4m by 2040, according to the NHS. A report last year estimated that more than 47,000 people across Portsmouth, Southampton, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight would be living with dementia by 2040.