What does a new Labour Government mean for people affected by dementia?

On Friday 5th July 2024, the UK woke up to a new Government. After 14 years in power, the Conservative Party was replaced by a Labour Government led by our new Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer. 

As Sir Keir’s new Government take their seats around the famous cabinet table in Westminster, he and his new Health and Social Care Team find themselves faced with a huge and growing health crisis in dementia care. During the first year of this Parliament, it is estimated that the number of people living with dementia in the UK will pass one million.  

For too long, and through successive governments, people with dementia have been left behind in national policy. With no cure and painfully little consistent and reliable support in place, people find themselves left to cope alone with complex and ever-changing challenges. 

What are Labour’s plans for dementia care? 

In the run-up to the election, Sir Keir laid out his first steps for a new Government, including pledging to cut NHS waiting lists by providing 40,000 more appointments each week. With waiting times for dementia assessments still unacceptably long, this is a welcome first step, but whether it will be enough for those affected by dementia remains to be seen.  

We are concerned that assessments are only meaningful when there is appropriate post-diagnostic support in place – something that is still inadequate or hard to access for far too many people. 

The Labour Party manifesto made further commitments to improve the NHS in England including: 

• a plan to increase the number of GPs, with a guarantee of face-to-face appointments for all those who want one and an end to the ‘8am rush’ to book. This could be positive news for people facing a dementia diagnosis who rely on their GP as a vital first point of contact 

• a commitment to ensure that people living in residential care have the guaranteed right to see their families, continuing work the previous government was undertaking to address the impact of the lack of visiting rights during the Covid pandemic 

• building consensus for the longer-term reform needed to create a sustainable National Care Service to deliver consistency of care across the country. Again, this could be welcome, as social care is in desperate need of reform but has been a political ‘hot potato’ across successive governments 

Despite the Labour Party manifesto’s commitments to health more broadly, dementia itself only gets one mention, in relation to maximising ‘our potential to lead the world in clinical trials. This will mean putting Britain at the forefront of transforming treatment for dementia’. There is no doubt that this is a positive step for the future. Yet it won’t address the significant barriers to support that the 944,000 people living with dementia and their families are facing right now. 

We will work with the new Government to deliver its plans, but there is much more that must be done to improve support for people affected by dementia. 

Fixing dementia care 

At Dementia UK we believe that no one should face dementia alone. Every MP elected on Thursday 4th July 2024 has a crucial role to play in delivering the change we need to make this a reality. 

Our General Election manifesto set out four tangible improvements that will begin to address the biggest gaps in dementia care and support. The new Government must lead the way in transforming dementia care by: 

1. Delivering expert and personalised support after a dementia diagnosis.
2. Fixing the NHS continuing healthcare funding process so more families can access vital care funding.
3. Improving diagnosis rates and age-appropriate support for people with young onset dementia (where symptoms develop before the age of 65).
   
4. Increasing access to specialist dementia nurses in hospitals. 

We know first-hand that when people affected by dementia have access to the right support at the right time, it can be life-changing. It helps families up and down the country feel more confident, hopeful and in control. 

As a charity we are doing everything in our power to support as many people as possible through our specialist dementia nurses, known as Admiral Nurses, but we can’t reach everyone who needs us.  

With enough political will, dementia care can be fixed and the time for action is now.

As the specialist dementia nursing charity, we are  ready to work with the new Government to transform dementia care for the one in two of us who will be affected in our lifetime. We need the new Government to put dementia on the agenda and deliver a strategic approach across health and social care systems and services and policy to improve the lives of everyone affected. It won’t be easy, but we know that change is possible, and we know how it can be achieved.