People living with dementia and their families are yet to see improvements in services from the National Dementia Strategy, says Bupa's director of dementia care, Dr Graham Stokes.
After 12 months and a budget of £60milllion, Dr Stokes says there has been little progress on the ground and there is no sign of the step change in care and support promised by Ministers.
Speaking around the first anniversary of the launch of the Government's dementia strategy for England, Dr Stokes fears that critics of the plans have been proved right - especially over its concentration on setting up "memory clinics".
Dr Stokes said:While any extra resource was welcome, many of us feared at the time that this was just a fraction of the resources needed, yet the money identified in the first year may not have even been spent by primary care trusts on dementia. There is a creeping belief that a sense of urgency and priority for dementia is being lost. Some pilot schemes have been set up but there has been no reporting on their outcomes. It is early days but I cannot see any improvement on the ground in the lives of people living with dementia and their families. There has been no improvement in GP's knowledge and awareness of dementia with many GPs still questioning whether early diagnosis is a good idea - even though this was one of the Government's key objectives. Over the past year can it be said that services are better and helping more people living with dementia?
In 2010, the Government plans to spend a further £90million to support the second year of the national dementia strategy. But Dr Stokes says it is already apparent that this money may only be spent by PCTs
if they can identify efficiency savings elsewhere, while others do not see dementia as a 'must do' - which could still leave those with the greatest need with inadequate care and support.
Dr Stokes is responsible for driving forward the quality and scope of care for people living with dementia in Bupa's care homes in the UK, Spain, New Zealand and Australia.
He added:Those most at risk tend to be women, living alone, aged over 80, who are often housebound and isolated. We need a system that reaches out to these older people with dementia, identifies their needs and helps to support them - rather than one that relies entirely on them knowing where to get support and their ability to travel to get it. There should be a fully-funded range of options to support people at different stages of their life with dementia - whether that's quality care delivered in their own home, in sheltered accommodation, or in a specialist residential home.
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