MPs and peers call for national dementia strategy

The APPG (all party parliamentary group) for dementia has stated that there is a requirement for a national dementia strategy to offer a better standard of support once a sufferer has been diagnosed.

A report issued by the group has called for a high standard of dementia support to be made available to people in all regions of the country and has highlighted a number of areas where improvements can be made. One priority is to improve the support that is offered post-diagnosis; however, CCGs have yet to recognise the urgency of this.

The group has recognised that there have been improvements in standards of dementia care since England’s National Dementia Strategy was published in 2010, but the group considers that a piecemeal approach is not acceptable.

The National Dementia Strategy is due to end next March, with the challenge set by David Cameron on dementia due to end a couple of months later.

Among the suggestions made by the group are the appointment of dementia leads to work with CCGs and other local health groups and a clear measure of quality of life from the Department of Health to be included in the Adult Social Care Outcomes Framework, which would allow data to be collected on the quality of dementia care services.

The group has called for local authorities to look more at the quality of dementia care services and less at cost considerations, although the report does recognise that there have been pressures on health budgets in recent years.