HEALTH workers from the North-East are in with a chance to scoop a £150,000 prize as part of a new initiative to reform the way people with dementia are cared for.

It is thought there are more than 33,000 people with dementia across the North-East and one person across the UK is diagnosed with the condition every three minutes.

The condition has replaced cancer as the biggest challenge facing the health service.

Yet access to dementia services is often difficult and confusing because so many different types of intervention and treatment are required.

Now, in a bid to simplify the way dementia care is provided, the NHS has launched a national competition to capture new ideas from staff and volunteers working on the dementia frontline.

The NHS Innovation Challenge Prize for Dementia aims to identify innovative new ways of integrating dementia care by redesigning services around the needs of patients, improving diagnosis and reducing both the number of hospital attendances and the amount of time patients spend in hospital.

Winners will receive national recognition for their achievements with the potential for their approach to be scaled up across the rest of the country.

The NHS Innovation Challenge Prize for Dementia is supported by Janssen Healthcare Innovation.

It is open to anyone working on the frontline of dementia care - from GPs, specialist nurses and social workers to support workers, charities and patient support groups.

The deadline for submissions is September 4 at midday.

The final stage of the challenge will announce the winner or winners, which is expected later in 2013.

Further information is available from nhschallengeprizes.org