Meeting of the Parliament 01 March 2023 [Draft]
I welcome the debate and, indeed, the Scottish Government’s upcoming dementia strategy.
My first job after I left school was in a care home, and my first placement as a student nurse was in the care of the elderly module. My experience helps me understand that there has been lots of knowledge development and changes to care delivery over recent decades for people living with dementia.
The commitment from the minister that the Scottish Government will work with people with lived experience of dementia to deliver the strategy, which keeps Scotland at the forefront of dementia policy, is also welcome.
Improving care and support for people living with dementia and those who care for them has been a major ambition of the SNP Government since 2007. Since then, dementia services have been transformed, with excellent contributions from staff working across health and social care and the wider public, third and independent sectors.
Just a fortnight ago in Stranraer, I spoke with a dementia nurse specialist who shared the view that, although progress has been made, we can go much further. I was also interested to hear from her that young-onset dementia is increasing in Scotland, and I ask the minister to say in closing whether the Scottish Government is addressing that.
The Scottish Government’s previous dementia strategy recognised the importance of taking a person-centred and flexible approach to providing support at all stages of the dementia journey, from work on diagnosis through all stages of the illness and in all care settings. Those principles are important.
The Scottish Government wants everyone with dementia to live with good quality of life for longer, at home or in a homely setting or in another place of their choosing, where they are connected to friends, family and community. I therefore ask that the next national dementia strategy should look at self-directed support and, in particular, at what stage a person has to be in their dementia journey to receive self-directed support. At the moment, various social work departments apply SDS in different ways, and I have had several local cases in which SDS decisions were reversed. SDS can be a crucial tool. Therefore, I ask the minister for a commitment that SDS will be looked at as part of the strategy and that its use nationally can be evened out and maybe become a wee bit fairer.
The Scottish Government wants more people living with dementia to be able to live well at home for as long as possible. Last year, a major forum on housing and dementia published a series of recommendations on living well with the condition. Housing has a huge role to play in supporting people who are living with dementia to feel safe and able to play an active role in their local communities as their needs change.
Loreburn Housing Association in Dumfries and Galloway has built dementia-friendly housing alongside an innovative employment hub on the site of the former Garrick hospital in Stranraer. Young people living at the youth foyer are expected to be in education, an apprenticeship, employment or training, and they have access to volunteering opportunities in the community. The youth foyer also offers community access areas, a state-of-the-art conference facility, breakout spaces and access to wifi. The aims of the site are fantastic and, as the Scottish Government takes forward the new strategy, I encourage it to look at that model. I invite the minister to visit Stranraer—I would be happy to join him.
I know that this afternoon’s debate is short. My focus has been on self-directed support, but I know that we could have had a longer debate about dementia care. I will close there.
16:54