Dementia: North West

Department of Health written question – answered at on 9 March 2015.

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Photo of Mark Menzies Mark Menzies Conservative, Fylde

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to improve the quality and level of care for people with dementia in the North West.

Photo of Norman Lamb Norman Lamb The Minister of State, Department of Health

Dementia is a key priority for this Government across England 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.

Since the launch of the Challenge, we have made significant progress in improving the quality and level of care for people with dementia. These include:

- On 1 April 2014, we have put in place a new Dementia Directed Enhanced Service (DES), which has had over 80% take up by general practitioners (GPs) to reward practices for facilitating timely diagnosis and support for people with dementia. From March 2015, the revised DES will include an offer of a health check for carers and signposting to relevant information, advice and support.

- 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.

- Over 1 million people in England have had an awareness raising session to become a Dementia Friend, met in February 2015.

Under the 2012-15 Prime Minister’s Challenge on Dementia, we have also made significant progress in the North West.

- We are creating Dementia Friendly Communities, which will help support those with living with dementia. 14 communities across the North West have signed up to the national Dementia Friendly Communities recognition process. 83,078 Dementia Friends were registered from the North West. There are also currently 23 local Dementia Action Alliances in the North West.

- In the North West, £12,021,593 capital funding for 2013-14 was allocated for the National Health Service 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 in the near future.

- Nationally, the Government’s refreshed Mandate to Health Education England, published on 1 May 2014, set an ambition for 250,000 NHS staff to receive Tier 1 training on dementia to add to the existing 100,000 by March 2015. In the North West, the latest figure on the number of staff that have undergone Tier 1 training on dementia is 56,256 surpassing the regional target of 53,632.

On 21 February 2015, the Prime Minister announced the launch of his new Challenge on Dementia towards 2020. This set out to build on the achievements of the Prime Minister’s challenge on dementia 2012-2015. It aims to identify what needs to be done to make sure that dementia care, support, awareness and research are transformed by 2020 and set key aspirations aimed at improving quality and level of care which include:

- Maintaining our current spend on dementia research of over £60 million a year. We have already doubled research spending from a baseline of £28.2 million in 2009/10.

- GPs playing a leading role in ensuring coordination and continuity of care for people with dementia, as part of the existing commitment that from 1 April 2015 everyone will have access to a named GP with overall responsibility and oversight for their care.

- Every person diagnosed with dementia having meaningful care following their diagnosis, which supports them and those around them, with meaningful care being in accordance with published National Institute for Health and Care Excellence Quality Standards.

- All NHS staff having received training on dementia appropriate to their role. Newly appointed healthcare assistants and social care support workers, including those providing care and support to people with dementia and their carers, having undergone training as part of the national implementation of the Care Certificate.

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