Thoughts on the Recent House of Commons Debate on Dementia Care

The debate was lengthy and impassioned. There was consensus across the house and over 3 hours MP after MP spoke of their own personal experiences of dementia or those of their constituents. Their contributions painted a vivid picture of the current reality of living with dementia. Several common themes emerged throughout the discussion:

1. Navigating the system is complex and disordered, and people need much better support to do this. The current system increases stress and uncertainty, leading many to crisis point.

2. Dementia care improvement should be included in NHS reforms and the government must not pass on the opportunity to fix this issue and the social care system.

3. Moving from treatment to prevention of dementia is pivotal to the NHS 10-year strategy and to reducing the spiralling costs to the NHS of an ageing population.

4. More funding for social care is needed and a clearer strategy

5. One quarter of NHS beds are occupied by someone with dementia who is fit and able to be discharged, but who cannot be discharged because of the crisis in social care.

6. Improving the treatment of dementia in our communities and in primary care settings will help to free up hospitals and care systems.

Few listening to the debate would have found much of it surprising, except, perhaps, the remarkable breadth of lived experience shared across the House. It was genuinely encouraging to see the issue given such attention, and especially heartening to hear Caroline Voaden raise our VAT campaign directly in Parliament, something no other MP we've contacted in 9 years has done. She called on Stephen Kinnock, Minister for Health and Social Care, to remove VAT from essential services like ours.

Caroline Voaden MP and Dr Liz Dennis

As she rightly pointed out: “While the Government is facing mounting pressures from all sides to find additional funding, it is worth noting that investing in community-based projects is a fraction of the cost of the NHS, yet the impact is transformational, benefiting families across the country and ultimately saving money.”

Responding on behalf of the Government, Stephen Kinnock said, ‘I thank everyone working to support people with dementia, as well as their friends, families and carers. This Government will back them every step of the way.(...) Together, we will build a society where every person with dementia receives high-quality care from diagnosis through to the end of life.’ This is good to hear, and if he is sincere, an easy win towards this goal would be to address our VAT concerns.

So, what now? The specific change we are calling for regarding VAT is small and it’s vital that we harness the mood in the House that afternoon and continue to push for change. After all, if the government can zero VAT rate solar panels, as they did in 2022, they can surely for dementia care.

You can watch Caroline's speech on Parliamentlive.tv (16.10.50).

By Dr Liz Dennis