Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to ensure adequate care for dementia sufferers.

Dementia is a key priority for this Government and we are committed to ensuring people with dementia and their carers receive the best possible care in all care settings. That is why in 2012 we launched the first ever Prime Minister’s Challenge on dementia to increase diagnosis rates, raise awareness and understanding and double funding for research in dementia by 2015.

A number of steps have been taken to help care for dementia patients:

- on 1 April 2014 we have put in place a new Dementia Directed Enhanced Service, which has had over 80% take up by general practitioners (GPs) to reward practices for facilitating timely diagnosis and support for people with dementia. An additional enhanced service for GPs will run between October 2014 and March 2015 with a view to a further boost to diagnosis;

- in the hospital setting, through the Dementia Commissioning for Quality and Innovation (CQUIN) reward (introduced from April 2012), with around 4,000 referrals a month, it is clear that more people with dementia in hospitals are being identified and assessed. Between April 2013 and June 2014 there have been 59,961 referrals as a result of the introduction of this CQUIN goal;

- the Dementia Care & Support Compact, the care sector’s own response to the Prime Minister’s Challenge on Dementia, sets out a commitment to support the delivery of the challenge and improve care and support for people with dementia, their carers and families;

- Health Education England (HEE), Skills for Care and Skills for Health launched the pilot for the new Care Certificate on 28 April 2014. Taking place across a range of health and social care settings, the pilots are testing a set of standards designed to help employers to assess not only workers’ skills, but also the knowledge, behaviours and values that are required to deliver compassionate and quality care. The pilots are nearing completion. Subject to evaluation, we plan to introduce the Care Certificate by 1 April 2015;

- the Government’s refreshed Mandate to HEE, published on 1 May 2014, builds on the existing ambition to have 100,000 National Health Service staff receive Tier 1 training on dementia by setting an ambition for a further 250,000 NHS staff to receive Tier 1 training on dementia by March 2015, with the tools and training opportunities being made available to all staff by the end of 2018;

- 72 communities across England have signed up to the national Dementia Friendly Communities recognition process, with an increased ambition to reach 75 by March 2015;

- on 7 May 2014, Public Health England and the Alzheimer’s Society launched a major new campaign with the aim of securing one million people to become dementia friends by March 2015. The campaign is aimed at improving understanding and attitudes about dementia and towards people with the condition. There are currently over 579,000 Dementia Friends; and

- we have made available £50 million capital funding for 2013-14 for the NHS and local authorities to work with providers to create better care environments to help people with dementia live well with the condition. The projects are now in the process of being evaluated and we will disseminate the key recommendations by the end of the year.