500 signatures reached
To: Matt Hancock - Minister for Health and Social Care
Dementia Carers Need More Support!
We urge you to take a fresh look at the plight of both people living with Dementia and their unpaid carers.
This CANNOT wait until the scheduled spending review in 2020. The current system leaves hundreds of thousands of people without the support they desperately need.
We need appropriately resourced national Dementia strategies - NOW!
Why is this important?
Approximately 700,000 people in the UK provide UNPAID care for a loved one with Dementia, saving the Government £11.6 BILLION each year. ... Without these unpaid carers, the UK care system would collapse, leaving millions in crisis.
Yet when these carers find THEMSELVES in crisis, they are routinely told that somebody will respond to them in 5 - 10 days or that respite care is unavailable due to a lack of funding.
Alzheimer's Society reported these facts as far back as 2014 and yet the situation continues to deteriorate. ... And with the number of people living with Dementia expected to exceed 1 million by 2021, things are set to deteriorate further still. (https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/about-us/policy-and-influencing/dementia-uk-report)
We are therefore echoing the Alzheimer's Society's plea for "appropriately resourced national Dementia strategies", and in particular the BADLY needed measures laid out in their statement on carer support. (https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/about-us/policy-and-influencing/what-we-think/carer-support)
Because, as things stand today, the vast majority of unpaid Dementia Carers feel ignored, unsupported and alone - day in and day out.
We need change! And we need it NOW!
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Please also see our website at https://www.startcaring.co.uk for details of our 'Who Cares?' Postcard Campaign.
Start Caring! - Because change happens faster when we all work together.
