MP supports campaign to “fix dementia”

WARRINGTON South MP Faisal Rashid is backing the Alzheimer’s Society’s Fix Dementia Care Campaign.
Social care is currently chronically under-funded and under-resourced, and with an ageing population and increase in prevalence of conditions such as dementia, these issues are only set to get worse.
In the UK there are expected to be one million people living with dementia by 2021. The social care system has not kept up with demand, and it is more critical than ever that it is reformed, according the societyh
Hundreds of thousands of people with dementia in the UK rely on social care services every day. Currently 60 per cent of those using homecare have dementia, and 70 per cent of care home places are occupied by those who have the condition
The Alzheimer’s Society’s Fix Dementia Care campaign is calling on the Government to invest in a new system that:
o Upholds the rights of people living with dementia have through health, care and equalities legislation
o Ends catastrophic care costs for families
o Connects the price paid for quality dementia care with what it costs to deliver
o Means that dementia care is joined up
o Ends the inequality of support between dementia and other conditions.
Mr Rashid said: “I share the concerns of the Alzheimer’s Society that the Government is neglecting social care and that people with dementia will rightfully feel betrayed and abandoned as a result.
“The Care Quality Commission has described the social care sector as being at ‘a tipping point’.  Yet in the Autumn Budget the Chancellor failed to even mention the words social care, let alone provide a single extra penny.
“I believe we should place an equal emphasis on the care provided to people living with dementia and the support provided to their families and carers. Improving the quality of social care is a vital part of providing dignity in older age and support for people living with a long-term condition.
“I am calling on the Government to consult with carers and experts on how it can move from the current broken system of care to a sustainable service for older people on the principle of shared risk, so that no-one faces catastrophic care costs as they do now.”