Dementia care leaders sign pledge to improve care

Dementia care leaders have produced a charter vowing to improve care across England over the next four years.

Forty five organisations from across government, social care, the NHS and the voluntary sector have signed up to the National Dementia Declaration for England and formed a Dementia Action Alliance to drive through reform. Signatories include including the Department of Health, Alzheimer’s Society, the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services and the NHS Confederation.

The declaration is designed to complement the national dementia strategy, which aims to promote earlier diagnosis, improved public awareness of dementia and better care in care homes and hospitals. The coalition issued a revised version of the strategy last month.

Signatories have vowed to work towards meeting seven outcomes, including designing services around the needs of people with dementia and their carers, improving information and advice and boosting research into the condition.

They have also promised to report publicly on their progress against the aims of the declaration. All signatories will report quarterly on their progress and this will feed into an annual report.

“The Dementia Action Alliance provides an unprecedented opportunity to bring about real change for people with dementia,” said Ruth Sutherland, interim chief executive of the Alzheimer’s Society. “Putting dementia on the map in such a way will not only transform lives but also has the potential to save millions of pounds.”

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