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Dementia Services

The hon. Gentleman is right. From talking to other families in that situation, I know that it is common for the carers to suffer much more than the sufferer, although that was not the case for my family. The person with the condition will sometimes have a diminished recognition of just how bad the situation is, but the carers can see something tragic going on, and it is important that they get support. An element of day care support is also important for the person suffering from the illness, which relates to the points made by my hon. Friend the Member for Bassetlaw (John Mann) about what is happening in Nottinghamshire. The general problems that we face include, first, the widespread dread of Alzheimer's and dementia, which we must anticipate will continue to increase as it seems to be a function of greater longevity. If someone dies at 40, they probably will not have Alzheimer's—they might, but the probability is much lower. If someone lives to 90, the probability is significantly higher. The excellent report by the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology, on which we all often depend, states that 47 per cent. of the British population know of a family member or close friend with dementia. In a great many cases, therefore, that dread is fed by personal experiences. Indeed, I would assume that some of us in the Chamber will eventually fall victim to dementia. We need to be aware of that. On this issue, there is real public support for effective action so far as it is possible. I shall be partisan for a moment: as my hon. Friend the Member for Bassetlaw (John Mann) said, Nottinghamshire county council proposes to sell off all its care homes, including Bramwell, in my constituency, which specialises in Alzheimer's care. It has conceded, in discussions with me, that the effect might be to dissipate the centre of expertise that has been built up there, because the private buyer may choose to merge it in due course with another home and so lose that focus. That seems to be undesirable. In the local debate, a number of constituents have said that, although in other respects they are 100 per cent. behind the Conservative council and have always been Conservatives, on this issue they think that the council has got it wrong—to the point that they might not vote Conservative if it persists with its policy. We are all politicians, so this issue becomes partisan. However, even those parts of the electorate that are otherwise keen to save public money, by reducing council tax and so on, make an exception here; they feel that it is valuable to have some local centres of expertise, because any one of us or our loved ones could fall victim to Alzheimer's or dementia and so need such a centre. If we do not, and if we spend a bit of council tax on it but find that we do not need it, we should count our blessings.