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National Dementia Strategy

I am grateful for that intervention. Having seen the effect of dementia on constituents' families and, years ago, on a member of my own family, I think that I would support a limited pilot of something along those lines to check its weaknesses. Superficially, it has some attractions, and I can understand that. We must listen to carers because, by the Government's own admission, and as the Alzheimer's Society has consistently asserted, the present standard of care for dementia patients is distinctly uneven across our land. I repeat that in pursuing the much-needed reform and improvement of dementia services, we are starting from a much lower base than is the case for diseases such as cancer and cardiovascular diseases. Let me give a snapshot of present provision in Leicestershire. A number of weaknesses have been identified by constituents caring for spouses or relatives with dementia who have contacted me. Issues include late diagnosis and a lack of information on support and advice for newly diagnosed dementia patients and their carers. I am also concerned that the direct payments scheme for carers may not be as helpful as it could be to those responsible for loved ones with dementia. To take one example, my constituent Derek Barham cares for his wife Maureen, who has advanced dementia, and I know them well because they are friends of mine. He and his wife qualify for direct payments, but they are unable to use cash from this source to pay for a nurse who is qualified to care for dementia patients. Nor can carers who attend under the scheme help the patient with toilet visits or other physical support. The main carer is therefore relieved from their duties only in the sense that they do not have to be in the same room at all times. People in Leicestershire qualifying for direct payments and who care for under-65s with dementia also have problems accessing day centre services, where staff are more likely to have appropriate training in dementia care. I have written to the Minister about the problems with direct payments that my constituent has identified and I recognise that they may be peculiar to Leicestershire, but I am not sure. However, it is useful to register this example of the experience of the first round of reform for carers, particularly those caring for people with dementia. It is equally important to register good local examples of dementia and carer support work. I take this opportunity to pay tribute to the excellent Side by Side project for carers of younger dementia patients. The Alzheimer's Society, which is doing fantastic work in this area, is undertaking the project in Leicester and Leicestershire. The project explicitly consults and includes the person with dementia in designing a care and support package that they and their carer can access from Side by Side, so that they can continue to lead as normal a life as possible post-diagnosis. I believe that the project could well be rolled out across the country by the Alzheimer's Society and the aims of the carers strategy and the national dementia strategy will be greatly supported by it.