Background Studies have found that people with dementia are often admitted to hospital unnecessarily from care homes by staff who have not received enough support to help them understand dementia and how to support them at the end of life.

Aims The presentation will cover how working collaboratively has resulted in a change across the culture of Walsall healthcare resulting in improved outcomes for patients with dementia. It will provide practical solutions to commonly found problems when looking at service improvements and provide an honest account of setting up a collaborative partnership between organisations and the challenges we encountered and the ways we overcame them.

Method Support is provided by a range of methods including observations, support sessions, forums and steering groups. Homes can access as much or as little as they want and have ongoing contact to ensure their needs are met. Collaboratively work with other services for more joined up working.

Results As a direct result of the service we now have a community dementia steering group that brings together a range of professionals including care homes, ambulance service, hospital, hospice, community professionals, commissioners to name a few. Here we focus on how we can all work collaboratively to improve care for dementia patients. The service is now recurrently funded and this in part is due to the service having a direct impact on the decreasing the number of patients with dementia being admitted to the acute sector.

Conclusion There is no quick fix to improving cross boundary and sector working, however, as proven by this service by acknowledging that we all have a part to play and that we can all positively influence patients care change does not have to cost anything other than time and the dedication of the staff involved.