In April 2014, NHS Tayside received £25,000 from the Joint Improvement Team (JIT) to make improvements to Anticipatory Care Planning (ACP). The funding was directed to start the Tayside Power of Attorney Campaign. This decision was made following an invitation from NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and Glasgow City Council to join their successful Power of Attorney Campaign. Coincidentally Lanarkshire were also in receipt of JIT funding and also accepted the invitation to join the POA campaign.
Representative from NHS Tayside, the three Local Authorities, Solicitors for Older People Scotland and Alzheimers Scotland, formed a Task and Finish Group (TFG) to take the work forward. Activities included television and radio advertisements, newspaper articles and a range of engagement events.
Initial results are very promising. Statistics from the Office of the Public Guardian Scotland, where POAs are registered, show that the number of POAs registered in Tayside for the first quarter of 2015 was 529. This is a significant improvement upon the average number of POAs registered per quarter in 2014 which was 307. It is also notable that Glasgow, who have had a longer sustained campaign, noted a marked increase (34%) in the total registrations for 2014.
The full report of the Tayside group's work is available here: Tayside Power of Attorney Campaign Impact Report.
Helen Dryden, Clinical Lead for Palliative Care, Angus
Sally Wilson, Locality Integration Improvement Manager, Angus
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