Government set to improve dementia care and research

Government set to improve dementia care and research

By William Smith

This week we have seen the Prime Minister announce his commitment to make the UK a world leader on dementia.  Dementia affects one in three people and currently there are 670,000 people In England with dementia making  this welcome news.

Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said ‘Today (26.3.12), the Prime Minister launches his challenge on dementia t tackle one of the most important issues we face arising from an ageing population.  Dementia is one of the biggest challenges we face as a society and we are determined to transform the quality of dementia care for patients and their families.’

 ‘That is why the Challenge sets out the Government’s ambition to increase diagnosis rates, to raise awareness and understanding and to strengthen substantially our research efforts so we can help those living with dementia have a better quality of life.’

According to the Alzheimer’s Society’s report, three –quarters of people in the UK feel that society is not geared up to deal with dementia.  It also found that three in five (61%) people diagnosed with dementia are left feeling lonely, four in five (77%) feel anxious or depressed and nearly half (44%) have lost friends.

England is one of the first countries in the world to have a National Dementia Strategy. The Prime Minister’s ambitious programme covers three areas to go further and faster to deliver major improvements in dementia care, dementia awareness and dementia research by 2015. The Alzheimer’s Society will be leading the work on dementia awareness and communities and has been working closely with the Prime Minister and Department of Health.

The Prime Minister has set up three ‘Champion Groups’ to lead the work and they will report back to him in six months. The groups are:

HEALTH AND CARE

Only 42 per cent of people with dementia have a formal diagnosis and there is significant regional variation, from 29 per cent in some areas to around 67 per cent in the best. To drive up diagnosis rates by 2015:

 

• The local NHS will set local dementia action plans quantifying their ambition for diagnosis rates;

• The Department of Health is introducing changes to the NHS Health Check for 65-74 year olds so that patients are given information on memory clinics and refer those in need of an assessment;

• From next month, the Department of Health introducing financial rewards for hospitals that assess patients for dementia. Up to £54 million will be available to hospitals in England that offer risk assessments to 90 per cent of over-75 year olds admitted as emergencies.

To improve the quality of services for people living with dementia:

• The Department of Health is working with care home operators and home care providers to develop individual pledges to improve care for people with dementia;

• Access to information will be mandated, as NHS South West is already pioneering by bringing together in one place information about local health and care services for dementia for patients, carers and professionals. The site includes performance data, enabling people to compare and choose from services available in their local area.

RAISING AWARENESS

The report from the Alzheimer’s Society said that nearly two-thirds of people with dementia did not feel part of their community and nearly half had lost friends. Seventy-one per cent of people with dementia said they would like their community to understand how to help them live well.

The Alzheimer’s Society is leading the Champion Group on raising awareness:

• By 2015 the aim is to have at least 20 cities, towns and villages working together as dementia-friendly communities.

• A dementia-friendly community is where cities, towns, villages and local businesses and organisations support people to live well with dementia, helping them remain independent for longer. The Alzheimer’s Society will lead on development, in consultation with the communities themselves and people with dementia and their carers.

• Groups in York, Plymouth, Bradford, Sheffield, Leeds and Liverpool are all committed to make their cities dementia-friendly. This initiative is also supported by the Local Government Association.

• Organisations such as Waitrose, Tesco, Nationwide, Saga, Aviva, E:On, Lloyds Banking Group and Kent Fire Brigade have also agreed to look at what needs to be done.

• This Autumn the Department of Health will fund a high-profile public awareness campaign, to raise awareness of dementia and build on the lessons of previous campaigns. It will help to ensure people have access to advice on recognising early signs of dementia, where to get help and support, and how to make life easier for people with dementia and their families.

 

RESEARCH

The UK is a world leader for dementia research, but not enough is known about the disease and the level of public participation in dementia research remains low. The Government is determined to continue to lead on dementia research:

• The Government is more than doubling the funding for research into dementia and neurodegenerative disease to over £66 million each year by 2014/15 (compared to 2009/10).

• The Government is increasing the opportunities for people with dementia to participate in high quality research. To support this, inviting patients to consent will become part of a quality marker for memory clinics. The aim is to recruit ten per cent of patients into clinical trials.

• The Medical Research Council will be investing in dementia research via the BioBank, with an anticipated pilot of 50,000 to 100,000 participants having their brains scanned.

• Funding will be made available from the Department of Health for research into living well with dementia and the Economic and Social Research Council and National Institute for Health Research will launch an initiative for social science research into dementia.

CHAMPION GROUPS

Each Champion Group will be co-chaired by two high profile champions who will convene leaders from across health and social care, industry and broader society to support the programme of improvements. The co-chairs are:

• Jeremy Hughes, Chief Executive of the Alzheimer’s Society, and Angela Rippon, broadcaster, journalist and presenter (raising awareness and dementia-friendly communities);

• Sir Ian Carruthers, Chief Executive of South West Strategic Health Authority, and Sarah Pickup, Director of Health and Community Services at Hertfordshire County Council (improving health and care); and

• Sir Mark Walport, Director of the Wellcome Trust, and Professor Dame Sally Davies, Chief Medical Officer (research).

Dr Andrew McCulloch, Chief Executive at the Mental Health Foundation responds to the government’s pledge to double the funding for research into dementia:

“We welcome the government’s pledge to double the funding for research into dementia.

We feel that the funding should be divided between basic research, applied research on managing the condition better and research on the determinants which will hopefully lead to prevention strategies.

It is also crucial that the existing research on the determinants of dementia is properly disseminated as it seems that the general public and practitioners lack knowledge on that matter.”