Cheltenham’s man in Westminster Alex Chalk MP joined over 160 other MPs at the launch of Alzheimer’s Society’s new campaign Fix Dementia Care last week. The campaign calls for improvements in hospital care for people living with dementia.
MPs gathered in Westminster to call for greater transparency across the NHS following an Alzheimer’s Society investigation which found too many people with dementia are falling while in hospital, being discharged at night or remaining in hospital despite their medical treatment having finished.
The campaign is making the following recommendations to fix dementia care:
- · All hospitals to publish an annual statement of dementia care, which includes feedback from patients with dementia, helping to raise standards of care across the country
- · The regulators, Monitor and the Care Quality Commission to include standards of dementia care in their assessments
Speaking after the event, Mr Chalk commented that ‘good hospital care for people with dementia should never be a throw of the dice – yet in some hospitals people are routinely experiencing the consequences of poor care. Alzheimer Society’s new Fix Dementia Care campaign to end the postcode lottery on the quality of hospital care people with dementia face. The first step to improving the issue across the country is greater transparency - once we know where the shortcomings are we can take steps to tackle them.”
George McNamara, Head of Policy and Public Affairs at Alzheimer’s Society said: “We must put a stop to the culture where it’s easier to find out about your local hospital finances than the quality of care you’ll receive if you have dementia. We are encouraging everyone to get behind our campaign to improve transparency and raise the bar on quality.”
Alzheimer’s Society is calling on people to back the Fix Dementia Care campaign by signing up at www.alzheimers.org.uk/fixhospitalcare