Emergency Department Dementia Care Pathway

It is well established that the early signs of dementia are not infrequently missed when a patient presents to hospital with an acute medical presentation. In an attempt to assist clinical staff working in both Emergency Departments and Acute Medical Assessment Units detect the early signs of dementia, the National Emergency Medicine and Older Persons Clinical Care Programmes have jointly developed an aide memoire to assist medical and nursing staff identify this condition so the appropriate care may be given. The original aide memoire was distributed to units in November 2015 and a slightly updated version produced in July 2016.