Meeting of the Parliament 01 March 2023 [Draft]
Our population is, on average, becoming older with each passing year. We must come to terms with the increased prevalence of dementia and related illnesses. Dementia can be a harrowing diagnosis and one that many of us dread, but we can do a lot, including providing people with dignity. Currently, unfortunately, we are not near that standard.
An issue such as dementia requires serious attention from the top of Government, yet the headlines that dominate are about the internal war that is going on in the SNP and the flawed national care service plan, which is not worthy of the name. In politics, and as politicians, we must do better. We must seek to discuss the issues that matter to people in their everyday life: health, education, care and communities.
Three national dementia strategies have been published since 2007 and a fourth is planned. If we take a close look at the previous plans, we see that a great deal has never been realised, including effective local delivery plans and key commitments on post-diagnostic support. We can also see the effects of those broken promises in the day-to-day care of patients and the toll that it takes on those who look after them.
To tackle dementia, we need a well-funded care service with well-paid carers. There is no getting away from that. My party repeatedly calls for a decent pay rise for social care workers.
The challenge that we must face up to is to provide care for people where and when they need support in a way that works for them. I am well aware that that is easier said than done, but launching strategy after strategy is not a substitute for serious action. I am very concerned that we are two years into this session of Parliament and there has been little of the latter.
I want to briefly mention the developing international evidence base that highlights the benefits of allied health professionals’ early interventions, supported self-management and rehabilitation as a means of supporting people to live well with dementia for longer.
Despite all the innovative, creative and evidence-based work, it is evident that access to allied health professional services remains inconsistent and challenging. At times, they are simply not available. More must be done to raise the profile of and to improve access to those essential AHP services. In relation to dementia services, access to AHPs is most definitely a postcode lottery.
Since the first dementia strategy was published 13 years ago, delayed discharge has become a huge problem, leaving a lot of dementia patients in a state of distress and prolonged discomfort. In many areas, people are victim to a further postcode lottery, in which their experience of provision might be vastly different from that of someone just a half-hour drive away. Will the new strategy solve the problems, or will it just play lip service to them? The public are perfectly justified in asking those questions.
Many of us will know of a friend, family member or colleague who has been diagnosed with dementia and will have witnessed the intolerable toll that it takes on them and their families. Would it not be some support for them if the Government delivered on its commitment to remove all non-residential care charges? Using the delayed national care service plan as an excuse for inaction on that is just not good enough.
Let us give people something to be positive about. Let us give those who care for people with dementia a wage that they can build a life on. Let us take some of the cost of care away from those who can barely afford it. Let us stop the postcode lottery.