News

NHS England has included dementia in their 2024/25 priorities and operational planning guidance.   Specifically, National NHS Objectives for 2024/25 say:  “Improve quality of life, effectiveness of treatment, and care for people with dementia by increasing the dementia diagnosis rate to 66.7% by March 2025.”  You can read the guidance here: https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/PRN00715-2024-to-2025-priorities-and-operational-planning-guidance-27.03.2024.pdf 

Ex-rugby player Steve Thompson, who was diagnosed with young onset dementia in 2020, has announced that the documentary he made for the BBC entitled ‘Head On: Rugby, Dementia and Me’ that was first aired in October 2022 has had its availability continued on the BBC iPlayer platform.  You can view the documentary here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001ctkw/head-on-rugby-dementia-and-me 

Alive Activities, in conjunction with Bristol Dementia Wellbeing Service, Alzheimer’s Society and the Football Association, has made a film showing three England footballers experiencing the dementia ‘Empathy Suit’.  The ‘Empathy Suit’ is made up of 13 components which work to inhibit mobility, motor skills, vision and hearing.  CEO of Alive Activities, Isobel Jones, says:  “The … Read more

33 MP’s have attended an event in parliament to hear about Dementia UK’s ‘Fix the Funding’ campaign. They heard from people affected by dementia, as well as Chief Admiral Nurse and Dementia UK CEO Hilda Hayo and her Admiral Nursing colleagues, about why the NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) funding process needs to be reviewed.  Dementia … Read more

Findings from the 2023 British Social Attitudes survey have been published by the Nuffield Trust and The King’s Fund. The survey shows that only 24% of the public are satisfied with the NHS and only 13% are satisfied with social care. These are the lowest levels of satisfaction recorded since the survey began in 1983.  … Read more

Meeting Centres Scotland has been officially launched to promote community-driven dementia care.  The Meeting Centres model was pioneered in Amsterdam 30 years ago. Scotland’s first meeting centre opened in 2019 in Kirriemuir, and Scotland now has 19 Meeting Centres that aim to increase confidence and wellbeing for people with dementia and their families. Meeting Centres … Read more

Dr Carol Sargent, founder of Sargent Group Consulting and a specialist in inclusive tourism for people living with dementia, has announced Hoe Grange Holidays as the first UK accommodation provider accredited by her as dementia inclusive.  Dr Carol Sargent says:  “The accreditation scheme was inspired by my personal experience with taking both my mum Liz … Read more

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has announced that it is beginning the development of a dementia strategy.  CQC say this will be a cross-sector strategy that will be shaped by a central question – how can CQC use its role to improve the experience of using health and social care services for people living with … Read more

The Carer Poverty Coalition, a group of 130 national and local organisations campaigning to end poverty amongst unpaid carers, has published a manifesto calling on all political parties to commit to reviewing Carer’s Allowance and other means-tested benefits available to carers. As part of the review, the Coalition also want an examination of the financial … Read more

CQC and Healthwatch England has launched a new campaign aiming to amplify the voices of people using care services.   ‘Share for Better Care’ has a particular focus on collecting experiences from people from seldom-heard communities because it is known these individuals are more likely to experience poorer care and inequalities. These communities include:  The campaign … Read more