Chloe Smith MP supports Alzheimer’s Society’s Fix Dementia Care campaign

On Wednesday 10 February Chloe Smith joined over 160 other MPs at the launch of Alzheimer’s Society’s new campaign Fix Dementia Care which 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 being marooned in hospital despite their medical treatment having finished. Freedom of Information requests (FOIs) carried out by the charity found that in 2014-15:

• 28% of people over the age of 65 who fell in hospital had dementia - but this was as high as 71% in the worst performing hospital trust
• In 68 trusts that responded to this FOI (41%), 4,926 people with dementia were discharged between the hours of 11pm and 6am
• In the worst performing hospitals, people with dementia were found to be staying five to seven times longer than other patients over the age of 65

 

Chloe said: “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.

 

“The Alzheimer’s Society were in Westminster to urge MPs to back their 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.”

“Poor care can have devastating, life-changing consequences. Becoming malnourished because you can’t communicate to hospital staff that you are hungry, or falling and breaking a hip because you’re confused and no-one’s around to help, can affect whether you stand any chance of returning to your own home or not.

 

“We are delighted to have been able to engage over 160 MPs in one day. Chloe has a huge influence in Norwich North and we hope she will use this opportunity to take action and improve the care for people living with dementia.”

 

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 

 

Alzheimer’s Society is calling on people to back the Fix Dementia Care campaign by signing up at www.alzheimers.org.uk/fixhospitalcare

 

Notes to editors:

·         Alzheimer’s Society is the UK’s leading support and research charity for people with dementia, their families and carers. To find out more about Alzheimer’s Society, visit www.alzheimers.org.uk