Dementia care plans unveiled

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Health Secretary Alan Johnson and care services minister Phil Hope unveiled the National Dementia Strategy, which is aimed at improving diagnosis and treatment while saving almost £1 billion over the next decade.

A senior clinician in every hospital and care home in England will be made responsible for ensuring the needs of dementia sufferers are met.

GPs are to be specially trained to spot the early signs of dementia and memory clinics will be set up in every town and city to provide rapid diagnosis by specialist staff.

New "dementia advisers" will also be appointed to work with families to help them navigate the services on offer. But a review of the use of anti-psychotic drugs - one of the most controversial aspects of caring for people with dementia in care homes - will not be published until the spring.

There are currently around 570,000 people in England with dementia but the figure is rising as people live longer. The current cost to the UK economy of dementia is around £17 billion but this is set to rise to more than £50 billion a year as the number of sufferers doubles to 1.4 million.

The strategy, which is backed by £150 million over the first two years, sets out how the lives of carers can be improved and says community services should be strengthened.

Mr Hope said the strategy offered a "double win" in that it would improve services for dementia sufferers while saving money in the long-term because people would be able to stay in their own homes for longer.

Offering greater support and more community-based services would lead to a delay in admitting people to "expensive residential care homes". He added: "Early diagnosis means early intervention. This early diagnosis and intervention means people will be able to stay longer in their own homes."

Mr Johnson said there was a need to tackle the "stigma" associated with dementia and increase public awareness of the disease. "This needs to come out of the dark and the shadows," he added, calling the strategy a "landmark document" that "will transform the quality of dementia care".