Part of the debate – in the House of Lords at 3:07 pm on 15 October 2025.
Lord Laming
Chair, Accommodation Steering Group Committee
3:07,
15 October 2025
My Lords, I was told in a discussion with a carer coping with the day-by-day, hour-by-hour demands of looking after someone with severe dementia that when they got a hospital appointment, the doctor spent a great deal of time looking at the screen and firing off questions to the patient. Frankly, the patient did not recognise where she was, and when the carer intervened to help, they were made to feel that their only job was to act as chauffeur to get the patient to hospital. Surely the time has come to recognise the tremendous contribution of unpaid carers in our society, and to support them, value them and help them to feel valued.