The Blue Band Scheme for care homes is a scheme that improves experiences for those living with a dementia diagnosis who visit our hospitals.

Patients with dementia who attend hospital can find it a particularly stressful and upsetting experience and it is crucial that our staff are able to recognise those with dementia as early as possible to ensure they receive the right support as soon as possible.

If a care home resident needs to be transferred to Queen's or King George Hospitals by ambulance, the blue band is applied by the care home staff. This lets ambulance and hospital staff know to refer the patient to our Dementia team. The team will meet with the patient and replace the blue band from the care home with the hospital blue wristband, which is given to all patients with dementia and is a visual prompt for our staff to recognise the patient's diagnosis throughout their stay in hospital.

If a resident from a care home is attending an outpatient appointment, the blue band from the care home will support early recognition and request extra support from the Dementia team if needed.

The scheme was designed in collaboration with partners including the London Ambulance Service, NHS North East London, Care Providers Voice, and four care homes in Havering. 

The four care homes involved Blue Band Scheme are:

• Abbscross
• Clover Cottage
• Romford Care Centre
• Ravenscourt Nursing Home