Meeting of the Parliament 01 March 2023 [Draft]
I am very grateful for the opportunity to lead today’s debate on the progress that we have made in developing a new dementia strategy for Scotland. That includes the running of our national conversation late last year, where we reached hundreds of individuals, communities and organisations.
We are now able to publish a summary of what people told us and to outline how we are working with our national dementia lived experience panel to develop a new story for dementia policy in Scotland. The story will be one that builds on our world-leading commitments, such as to a minimum of one-year post-diagnostic support and to a policy that is person-centred and has our communities at its heart.
I know that members across the chamber will be keen to hear the progress that we have made and to contribute their own views on what we as a country should aspire to do to ensure that everyone living with dementia, and those who provide them with care and support, are enabled to live fulfilling lives and access their choice of care and support where and when they need it.
There are approximately 90,000 people living with dementia in Scotland. We know, based on predicted demographic changes and trends, that that number is likely only to grow, with one in three people born now likely to go on to develop dementia. It is a neurological condition that is degenerative and that affects cognitive functions, and for which there is currently no cure. Although it is a condition most likely to affect older people, that is not exclusive, and more people under the age of 65 are being diagnosed with younger onset dementia.
We know that the effects of this brain disease, as it advances, can be traumatic for people living with the condition, their families and those who provide care and support. That came through strongly in our national conversation. However, it was also emphasised to us that dementia is a condition with which people can live for decades and that they can continue to live well at home as active citizens who contribute to their communities. As a Government, we hope that the debate reflects on the range and diversity of experience of those contributions.
Improving care and support for people living with dementia and those who care for them has been a major ambition of the Scottish Government since 2007. Since then, dementia services have been transformed, thanks to excellent contributions from staff who work across health and social care and the public, third and independent sectors. Those developments have been driven by our three previous dementia strategies and a subsequent Covid-19 action plan, each of which prioritised a continuous journey towards more integrated, person-centred care, as well as the maintenance of a good quality of life for longer for people living with dementia. In addition, we have had a focus on modernising specialist dementia national health service care and, more recently, on supporting the brain health agenda.
Our estimate shows that integration joint boards spent £2.6 billion on dementia in this financial year. That is an increase of around 13 per cent since 2014. In addition, we have provided additional national investment in dementia post-diagnostic support this year and last year, and we have written to local service partners to indicate that additional investment will continue in 2023-24 and beyond, subject to parliamentary approval being received for overall budgets. That allows us to deliver on our world-leading commitment to provide everyone who is diagnosed with dementia in Scotland with a minimum of a year’s post-diagnostic support.
Alongside that, we have invested £1 million over two years, via Age Scotland, to boost and sustain community-led support, such as the support that is provided by the excellent Kirrie Connections meeting centre, which I recently had the pleasure of visiting. We will continue to do vital strategic national work on reforming the health and social care system to make sure that joined-up, person-centred care is available to enable people to live well, in the place that they choose, for as long as possible.