Government accused of failing to improve dementia services

A report into how the government has dealt with improving dementia services in England has found it failed to make the condition a national priority.

The findings of the Commons committee of public accounts looked at how the Department of Health had responded to the scale and urgency of dementia care in England.

Chairman of the committee Edward Leigh condemned the “wide gulf” between what the department had said it would do and what was actually done.

He added: “This committee feels badly let down by the department’s failure to act on the commitments it gave to us in 2007”.

MPs reported that despite a five-year national strategy by the Department of Health to tackle dementia care, they lacked the right tools to “make change happen”.

Dementia covers a range of progressive, terminal brain conditions which affect an estimated 600,000 people in England and this number is rising rapidly. Care for dementia sufferers is complex, as a mix of health and social care is needed.

Dementia costs £8.2 billion a year in direct health and social care costs but much of this spend is in response to complications in the later stages of the disease, today’s report said.

The committee said that improvements it identified in 2007 as urgently needed have still not been afforded the urgency and priority that they had been led to expect, adding “we feel badly let down by the department’s lack of urgency”.

Mr Leigh added: “This cannot continue. If dementia services are to improve at the rate required and better value for money is to be achieved from the £8 billion or so that is spent each year on direct health and social care costs, then implementation of the national strategy must be pursued with urgency and commitment.”

Andrew Chidgey, head of policy and public affairs at the Alzheimer’s Society, commented: “Important steps have been made since the publication of the National Dementia Strategy but we know that in many areas dementia is still not a local priority.

“One million people will develop dementia in the next ten years. It is therefore essential that the NHS and local authorities implement the strategy in their area. People with dementia are facing a daily battle with this devastating condition and are being prevented from accessing the support and advice they need. We need action now.”