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Dementia Services

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for making that excellent point. He is right and he anticipates one of the issues that I hope to develop a little later in my speech. There are specific measures that could improve the outlook for people with dementia, and for their families and carers, but it is important to bear in mind the fact that these social care reform issues affect all our fellow citizens who need to access and use social care services. Sufferers of advanced dementia represent some of the most vulnerable older people in our society. As we consider the challenge of meeting their needs, we must pay careful attention to the wider social care reforms that could protect the health and well-being of all elderly people. I hope that we can keep that bigger picture in mind as we debate this matter today. First, let us consider dementia specifically. There is no masking the truth that dementia is a frightening and debilitating disease that plays havoc with the lives of those who come into contact with it, be they the sufferers of the illness, the families or the carers. The trauma of a diagnosis and the difficulty of coming to terms with the gradual loss of memory is only intensified when patients discover that little co-ordinated support is available for sufferers. I pay tribute to all those in the third sector—in particular the Alzheimer's Society and the Alzheimer's Research Trust—who have supported sufferers and championed their cause. I also pay tribute to the work of my hon. Friend the Member for Rugby and Kenilworth (Jeremy Wright) and the all-party group that he founded and chairs, which has been so influential. We should also pay tribute to hard-working elected members of councils across the country and their officials who are working to provide this care at a local level, as well as to all those operating in the local government departments. I cannot give enough praise to the family members, neighbours and friends who, as informal carers, love and care for vulnerable and elderly people and for those with dementia, who face even greater challenges. We should keep them uppermost in our deliberations and not forget the real human lives that these policy debates represent. Two weeks ago, the National Audit Office published a broadly critical report on the Government's dementia strategy. Among its many misgivings, it noted that""there has not yet been a robust approach to implementation"" of the strategy; that""it has not been given the levers or urgency normally expected for such a priority";" and that it is clear""that value for money will remain poor unless these weaknesses are addressed urgently.""