---

Dementia Services

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The 2000 Act was groundbreaking. It was bitterly opposed by some, if not all, Conservative Members, but it was much needed. It changed what had been a fairly unregulated system into a system where clear standards were required. We have built on that change year on year. As she will know, we will soon require all providers of health and social care to be registered with the Care Quality Commission. This continuous drive for the improvement of quality and safety in the provision of all health and social care continues, and I am grateful for her support. On the national dementia strategy and the steps that we have taken to ensure that we see progress on the ground, improving services for people with dementia is highly complex, but as we reach the end of the first year of this five-year strategy, progress in planning is beginning to show improvements in practice. Let us take Croydon memory service, where people have doubled the number of dementia assessments and helped to overcome the stigma attached to the disease. Assessments at the service are carried out with the patient and the carer in their home to help to maintain their independence and quality of life. Or let us look at Wakefield, where staff are working to reach as many people as possible, as early as possible when they become ill, again trying to support them in their own homes. They are bringing together social workers, district nurses and community mental health staff to create the kind of strong, close teams that make all the difference to patients and their families who need that professional support. We want to see more of those services across the country. That is the answer to the point that the hon. Member for Eddisbury made about memory services. Forty demonstrator sites have been set up around the country to look at how dementia advisers and peer support networks can help families to get the support they need. We are also working hard to raise awareness of dementia—this addresses the point made by my hon. Friend the Member for Bridgend (Mrs. Moon)—and we will launch a public awareness campaign in March. That will be focused not only on reducing the stigma that comes with dementia and improving understanding of dementia but on encouraging people to seek help and information if they see the early signs of the disease. Last week, we had an important interim report on our national dementia strategy from the National Audit Office; I am grateful for the attention that it continues to give to this important matter. The report describes our strategy as "ambitious and comprehensive". It acknowledges the progress that we have made while rightly challenging Ministers to intensify our efforts. I welcome the report and take its recommendations very seriously. We must recognise that we are in the first few months of this five-year strategy and that change will not happen overnight, but there are actions that we are taking to improve things now. For example, we know that we need to do more to improve commissioning. New joint commissioning guidance was published in June last year, and that is now helping PCTs and councils to make the right decisions in their area. We know that we need to improve training, so we have commissioned Skills for Health and Skills for Care to look at training needs across health and social care and, where gaps exist, to address them in the work force development action plan. We also know of the need to find the local leaders to drive through this programme of change. The hon. Member for Rugby and Kenilworth (Jeremy Wright) was correct to lay emphasis on that important point. The recent Alzheimer's Society report on acute hospital care and dementia was very helpful in prompting the acute sector to give priority to dementia. I welcome that pressure and those voices calling for such change within our national health service—long may it continue.