It’s quite typical for the Butterfly Scheme adoption process to be triggered after a senior dementia care team member from one member hospital moves to another hospital and wants to have it there, but a particularly heartwarming example came to the stage of launching during this month.
A decade ago, I’d launched the Scheme at quite a large Trust on the fringes of London and one of the support team I came into contact with along the way had obviously made an impression on me, because – despite meeting thousands more healthcare staff since then – I could immediately visualise her when she again got in touch, having moved back to her native Ireland and become Dementia Lead. Unbeknown to me, she’d been busily gaining permissions and funding to deliver the Scheme at her new hospital, but what she didn’t know was that these days I deliver the launch sessions via videolink, rather than travelling everywhere in person.
However, when she approached me and was so excited at the prospect of an in-person launch, I hadn’t the heart to refuse to go, which is how I ended up spending a few days this month in Ireland. I’m so glad I went; the team members were already so insightful about dementia care, but were completely open to further learning and made it clear that they were actively thinking the whole way through the sessions.
I was interested to spot a notice there about Ireland’s fairly new Decision Support Service, which I understand covers all sorts of aspects of dementia care, including supporting people in active decision-making whilst they have capacity. This, of course, would be ideal for people who wanted to opt into the Butterfly Scheme before they might need it, but that will require an efficient registration service and the triggering of membership if that person later does become ready to use the Scheme. This has already been trialled and achieved in some parts of the UK and has meant that people with a dementia diagnosis have been able to make positive decisions for themselves about their future. I shall be interested to watch how things progress in Ireland.
Meanwhile, thank you again to the entire staff team at the Regional Hospital Mullingar for the warmth and sincerity of their welcome – and particular thanks to Sophie, in whose safe hands the Scheme will be led there there.