Members of the public are invited to attend a free health seminar at Heartlands Hospital and have their questions answered about dementia. There are around 800,000 people living in the UK who have the condition.

Dr Niall Fergusson, dementia lead at Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust, will provide an overview of dementia and what steps can be taken to help dementia patients and carers.

Dr Fergusson said: “It is a common condition and the number of people with dementia is increasing. By 2021, it is estimated around 20,000 people living in Birmingham and Solihull will have the condition. I’m looking forward to hearing everyone’s thoughts and opinions about this topic.”

The seminar is taking place on Wednesday 21 January at Heartlands Hospital in the education centre between 5pm -7pm. To book your place or to find out details of the Hospital’s future health seminars, contact Sandra White on 0121 424 1218 or email: sandra.white@heartofengland.nhs.uk.

The Trust – which covers Heartlands Hospital, Solihull Hospital and Good Hope Hospital as well as some community based services – runs monthly health seminars to help raise awareness of a range of health conditions, as well as providing information about the treatment and support that is available.

Plans are also in place to roll out a Dementia and Delirium strategy across the Trust. The fact that one in three people over the age of 65 develops dementia, accounting for 40 percent of the Trust’s patients, has acted as a driving force for developing this strategy.