THE Hambleton and Richmondshire Admiral Nurse Service has been awarded £9,700 of National Lottery funding to improve dementia treatment.

The money will be used by HARANS to conduct a research project to establish the extent of the need for the service in the districts.

The charity has appointed Chloe Hole as psychological researcher for the project. She has been interviewing people affected by dementia to determine their opinions and problems.

"This project will give carers and people diagnosed with dementia a voice to evaluate services in their local community," she said.

“It will provide a safe space for people to share their true experience of the services they have received and discuss what kind of help would have been, or would be helpful to them along their dementia journey."

Admiral Nurses are specialist dementia nurses provided by the charity Dementia UK.

And evidence from other areas of the country show that an Admiral Nurse service can help prevent premature hospital admissions and support people with dementia at home for longer.

HARANS was established in 2015 when 1,176 people were known to have dementia in the Hambleton and Richmondshire districts - and that number is predicted to rise considerably.

In rural areas many people are not diagnosed until later stages of their illness because of a lack of transport and isolation.

And - due to financial constraints in the NHS - ongoing support for someone following their diagnosis can be restricted and sometimes only crisis intervention is provided.