South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust (SWLSTG) is celebrating after the Trust’s dementia care is ‘highly commended’ at the HSJ Patient Safety Awards.

The Trust's Wandsworth Behaviour and Communication Support Service team (BACSS) was ‘highly commended’ in the Patient Safety Award dementia care category.

The team forms part of the Wandsworth Older People's Community Mental Health Team and supports staff in care homes in the area to manage behaviours they find challenging, helping everyone involved with the resident, including care home staff, families and other local health and social care services.

The BACSS team are jointly led by a psychologist and nurse, with an occupational therapist, nurse and assistant psychologist also part of the team. Each team member contributes to the ethos and collaborative culture of the team.

There are 16 care homes in Wandsworth and 90% of people with dementia will experience behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD), posing challenges to their relationships and care. 

The BACSS team demonstrated exceptional work to help manage relationships in a complex environment. Staffing levels and dynamics, management changes, relationships between staff and families are all issues that can have an impact on challenging behaviour.

Andrew Clough, Interim Director of Nursing at the Trust said:

"This is a fantastic achievement and I am really pleased with the team. They have used their unique and considerable expertise to help care home workers across Wandsworth manage the challenging behaviours they come across at work. This has a positive impact on the care received by patients.

"I am proud and pleased that they have received this well-deserved recognition for all the hard work they have put in.”

Dr Ally Tomlins, Highly Specialist Clinical Psychologist & Joint Clinical Lead for BACS Service said:

"I am thrilled our team has been highly commended. We are a small team that is dedicated to working with our colleagues across care homes in Wandsworth to improve their working environment, by supporting them deal with challenging behaviour they may come across. 

"The whole team are very pleased and we extend our thanks to all our colleagues in Wandsworth for helping us achieve this.”

The Patient Safety Awards recognises and rewards outstanding practice within the NHS and independent healthcare organisations.

Organisations were nominated for 16 categories including Patient Safety in Care of Older People, Improving Safety and Quality in Primary Care and End of Life Care. More information is on the Patient Safety Award website.