Specialist nurses to act as 'bridge of comfort' for those with dementia moving to a care home

• Video Report by ITV Wales' Carole Green

A new scheme will see specialist nurses employed to act as a "bridge of comfort" for those with dementia as they transition to care homes.

Around 42,000 people suffer from dementia across Wales with the figure continuing to rise as the population grows older.

The initiative means nurses, called 'Admiral Nurses', will act as a link between the patients and their families in the community during the early stages of the disease.

Meddyg Care Dementia Homes in Gwynedd has already started working with Dementia UK on the project.

Team Leader at the home, Osian Wyn Roberts, explained: "The Admiral Nurse will be our point of contact between the local community and ourselves, so having that prior knowledge of an individual before they come into a home is going to make a massive difference."

Helen Davies mother, Moreen, is now happily settled in a home but she explained how hard the process was for her family.

She said: "It was very difficult, obviously a lot more for my father because he was there with her 24 hours a day and as she was getting progressively worse it did get to the point where I had to give up work.

"I couldn't physically go to work, because I could have 10 minutes in work and then I'd have a phone call saying I needed to get there and help dad."

Looking back, Helen believes having that extra support would have made a real difference.

"I think having a person in the community, a specialist that knows all about dementia, that knows how to deal with it, how to support people like myself and my father. I think if we had someone like that, that come to the home and helped us, we didn't really know how to care for mum, we just did our best."

Area Nurse Manager, Jo Cairns, described the new role as a "bridge of comfort".

"An Admiral Nurse can take them from newly diagnosed to a place of comfort - we're kind of like the bridge of comfort. That's how I'm going to see this role.

"I would like to develop it as well to incorporate a respite day centre so that families can take their loved ones to a mid-point in the diagnosis."