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Lauren Tomley is the Admiral Nurse for the North Shropshire 
locality. She is a registered adult nurse that specialises in dementia. 

As an Admiral Nurse we offer support to the informal carer for someone who is 
living with dementia. We support carers and the person with dementia
throughout the trajectory of the dementia journey, especially through complex 
periods.
We are supported by Dementia UK and work for Shropshire Community NHS 
Trust. We have one Admiral Nurse for each part of Shropshire’s primary care 
network.
- Kate Jones – South West
- Kirsty- Ann Leigh- Shrewsbury
- Emma Butler (team leader) – South East
We support carers with:
• practical tips and advice on caring for a loved one with dementia 
• coping strategies for families who are finding caring difficult 
• feelings of loss and grief 
• work/life balance when caring for someone 
• coping with complex issues such as false beliefs, distressed behaviour, and 
family conflict 
• managing changes in personality and behaviour 
• strategies to improve the carer’s mental and physical wellbeing 
• signposting to other local and national dementia support services 
• planning and decision-making 
• transition into a nursing or residential home 
• support during and after a stay in hospital 
• identifying risk and keeping the person with dementia safe
Our aims
- To improve family carers well-being and quality of life.
- Enhance family carers adjustment to their caring role
- Improve the quality of life and well-being for the person with dementia.
- Provide education into dementia.

From using our service, we believe that we can lower levels of anxiety and 
depression for cares and allow them to have better access to other services and 
information. From the education that we can provide, carers feel more 
empowered with caring for their loved ones with dementia.
Improved outcomes for the person living with dementia:
The general wellbeing and quality of life for someone living with dementia is 
improved as the carer is better equipped with knowledge. We also believe that 
due to our service general practitioner call outs and a reduction in inappropriate 
hospital admissions.

Our service is open to informal carers whose loved ones have a confirmed
diagnosis of dementia. You must be registered with a Shropshire GP, and the 
person living with dementia must be experiencing complex needs, and meet 
parts of our referral criteria: 
• significant difficulty for the person with dementia and/ or their carer in 
accepting the diagnosis, which may result in psychological stress and affect their 
wellbeing 
• significant other physical or mental health conditions in the carer or the person 
with dementia, leading to the needs of the carer or person with dementia not 
being met 
• pre-existing or newly diagnosed mental health conditions which are being 
exacerbated by the caring role 
• changes in behavioural and psychological symptoms in the person with 
dementia resulting in carer stress, for example agitation, disinhibited behaviour, 
and anxiety 
• complex family dynamics affected by the diagnosis 
• need for advance care planning (making plans for future care and treatment) 

If someone believes they need our support, they can ask their GP or any 
involved health care professional for a referral to our service.
If you do not meet the referral criteria for the Admiral Nurse service but you 
have questions or concerns about dementia, you can speak to an Admiral Nurse 
on Dementia UK’s national Helpline. Call 0800 888 6678 or email 
helpline@dementiauk.org. The Helpline is open seven days a week, Monday-Friday 9am-9pm, Saturday and Sunday 9am-5pm. 
Please be aware that as your needs and the needs of the person you care for 
change, you may become eligible for the service. In this case, please contact 
your GP again or get in touch with the Admiral Nurse service directly. Dementia 
UK produces leaflets on many different aspects of living with dementia, from 
practical advice on finances and planning for the future to understanding 
symptoms such as sundowning, delirium, and false beliefs and delusions. Visit 
our website at dementiauk.org/our-leaflets to read, download or order these.