Government announces first ever National Dementia Strategy

The Department of Health launched its first ever National Dementia Strategy “Living Well with Dementia” on 3 February reinforcing the fact that they see dementia as a national priority. Dedicated funding of £150 million has been earmarked for the first two years and Ministers say the strategy will ultimately save the NHS £1 billion.

This is the first non-telecare related Government policy that has multiple references to telecare and a dedicated objective. It is clear that the consultees pushed hard for this, yet it encourages commissioners to be watchful of current and emerging telecare evidence in order to provide options to prolong independent living and delay reliance on more intensive services.

The Strategy comes at a crucial time, as there are currently 700,000 people in the UK with dementia, which costs the economy £17 billion a year. Whilst the number of people with dementia will double to 1.4 million in the next 30 years, the cost will actually treble to over £50 billion a year.

The aims of the strategy

To ensure that significant improvements are made to dementia services across three key areas:

• improved awareness - we need to ensure better knowledge about dementia and remove the stigma that sadly still surrounds it.

• earlier diagnosis and intervention - we have to ensure that people with dementia are properly diagnosed

• higher quality of care - we must develop a range of services for people with dementia and their carers which fully meets their changing needs over time.

Of the 17 key objectives, objective 10 is specifically related to telecare - “Considering the potential for housing support, housing-related services and telecare to support people with dementia and their carers”.

Further information about the National Dementia Strategy “Living Well with Dementia” is available from the Department of Health’s website. Click here for more information