A NATIONAL campaign to offer support for the rights of carers to stay with patients with dementia in hospital will be followed at Holsworthy Community and South Molton Community Hospital’s, among others.

The Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust has joined a national campaign designed to support the rights of carers who wish to stay in hospital with patients with a dementia.

‘John’s Campaign’ was officially launched on March 21 on the trust’s wards in both the acute and community hospitals.

The campaign was initiated after the death of Dr John Gerrard in November 2014.

His daughter Nicci believed her father, who had Alzheimer’s, would have benefitted greatly if she had been allowed to stay with him during his time in hospital.

This led her to start up John’s Campaign.

As part of the campaign Nicci is trying to ensure the rights of carers of patients with a dementia and similar conditions are met so that they are able to stay with their loved ones and be involved with their care if they would like to be.

Nicci’s co-campaigner, Julia Jones, supports her 91-year-old mother June, who is living with Alzheimer’s and vascular dementia.

The trust already offers flexible visiting at its hospitals, but now under the campaign carers will be able to stay on at hospitals like Holsworthy and South Molton Community Hospitals.

This allows carers to stay with loved ones whenever they want to — it will also allow carers more opportunity to be involved with the care of loved ones.

Nurses will ask families and carers upon admission to Holsworthy and South Molton Community Hospitals whether they have been caring for a patient and establish if they would like to continue to be involved.

Carers and family members will then be able to provide advice to be written down in a patient’s care plan.

John’s Campaign is ultimately focused on giving carers the right to stay with their loved ones in hospital — it does not aim to place a duty upon carers.

Nicci Gerrard and Julia Jones, from John’s Campaign, said: “We are thrilled and grateful that Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust is joining John’s campaign, opening its doors to the carers of those who are most vulnerable and frail and making a commitment to compassionate and person-centred care.

“We whole-heartedly welcome NDHT to our list and send out thanks.”