New dementia support service to launch next year
24/06/2025
The total cost of the 10-year contract in Oxfordshire will be around £9.1 million
by Esme Kenney, Local Democracy Reporter
A new dementia support service to meet “increasing demand” in Oxfordshire will be rolled out at the beginning of next year.
Oxfordshire County Council has put forward a new model which aims to support those with the condition, as well as their families and unpaid carers, to live “as independently, successfully and safely as possible for as long as possible within their communities”.
The service will cost the council an extra £56,000 per year compared to its existing contract.
The decision was made by councillor Tim Bearder, cabinet member for adults, at the delegated decisions meeting last Tuesday (June 17).
The total cost of the 10-year contract would be around £9.1 million, with £6.9 million of this being paid by the county council.
The remaining funding would be provided by the Buckinghamshire Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care Board (BOB ICB).
The service is expected to begin on 1 January 2026 and will be commissioned for five years plus a possible further five years.
The existing two contracts with Age UK Oxfordshire, which are funded by the Age Well pooled budget by the council and the ICB, are due to expire at the end of this year.
Oxfordshire has just over 6,000 people aged over 65 who are diagnosed with dementia, and an estimated 9,600 that might have dementia, according to the Dementia Diagnosis Rate for 2024.
Published: by the Banbury FM News Team
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