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Dementia Services

My hon. Friend rightly makes the point that making a difference on the ground, in those PCT areas, is important. Without getting into the ring- fencing debate, as we often do, can the Secretary of State give us better assurances and tell us that the money is being spent, simply by asking PCTs to report back and tell us what they are doing? Every PCT that has been given the money has a responsibility to ensure that it delivers. That is a challenge for PCTs, because of their budgets, but it must happen for the strategy to work. When there is evidence on the ground that the money does not appear to make a difference to local dementia services, sanctions must be put in place so that the Secretary of State can take action. If PCTs are failing to deliver the strategy, the Secretary of State—whoever he is—should be able to say that that is unacceptable and that it will not provide appropriate care in the area. Early diagnosis is one of the biggest challenges in the strategy. According to research from the House of Commons Library, people wait for three years, on average, before reporting symptoms to their doctor. That problem cannot easily be solved, but it is clear evidence that education must be a key part of the strategy, particularly through health professionals and GPs, to communicate to people that they should go to see their doctor and get a diagnosis. To revert to the point that the hon. Member for Bridgend (Mrs. Moon) made, early diagnosis and care from that stage can make a great difference to the condition's progression. The Secretary of State mentioned the concerns about local leadership. The point has been strongly made that local leadership is simply not there. Without that, the strategy will not succeed. It is not only about money, but about leadership. I urge him and the Minister to stick to the deadline of March—I welcome the fact that he has set it—for having it in place. We need further and appropriate meshing of our health and social care systems. It is a policy challenge to which there are no easy solutions, but interesting pilots are going on around the country. The artificial divide that often exists between health and social care cannot be more meaningless than in the case of dementia. It would be good if we could use the national dementia strategy to make progress on better meshing health and social care, so that the system becomes seamless for people, whether they need something that is currently defined as "care" or something that is defined as "health care".