Dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department of Health and Social Care
Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick
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Dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease
Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick Excerpts(8 years, 8 months ago)
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Jim Shannon
We have to encourage all medical advances.
The number of people living with the condition in the UK is revealed as more startling when we take into account the unsung heroes—the carers.
Ms Margaret Ritchie (South Down) (SDLP)
I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on obtaining this debate. He made an important point about the unsung heroes, the carers. Does he agree that often the people who provide the care in the home rely on outside visits, but those are short-term visits, which are not really the answer to support the carer or the person suffering from Alzheimer’s disease or dementia? More work on policy development and resources needs to be invested in by Government in the vital area of caring.
Jim Shannon
I thank the hon. Lady for a valuable intervention.
Carers UK estimates that, of the 6.5 million carers in the UK, 670,000 people care for friends or relatives with dementia. It is estimated that the NHS saves some £11.6 billion each year because of those unsung heroes; their contribution as volunteer carers is very valuable. Carers may end up providing more than 100 hours of care per week, and all too often the outside world is completely oblivious to their efforts—even those who know the carers might be oblivious, because they do not know what is happening. Anyone who has lived with someone with dementia or Alzheimer’s, or knows a person who does, knows the problems. People with dementia can often unknowingly become agitated, even violent, and night-time wandering and shouting can have a serious impact on carers’ sleep patterns, let alone sufferers’.