“I know who I’m voting for; who I believe will do the best for the NHS”
– by Tommy Dunne
“With the General Election upon us, we’ve heard various promises from all Parties about what they’re gonna do in the future with people with dementia. As if dementia was something new; some new disease that has just been discovered. Dementia has been around a long, long time. It’s just been ignored and scrapped under the carpet – something that should not be talked about in public. But now that there are so many people diagnosed with dementia, the politicians can no long ignore them. Especially when so many people with dementia have the audacity to speak up about their and their peers’ dementia.
Everything we hear from the politicians is about what they’re gonna do in the future. Don’t they know that we need help today? To help us have some sort of decent lifestyle. I don’t suffer with dementia, but I do struggle with it. There’s absolutely nothing being done to help family carers of people with dementia. I’ve heard nothing from the politicians that makes me think anything will be different in the near future.
I’m sure that if politicians knew the stress that family carers are under, they would realise there is a crisis there laying and waiting to happen. All politicians want to tie their wagons around cancer, but because dementia’s got such a stigma attached to it most of them are not brave enough to really support people with dementia and our family carers. People with dementia do not get the same state of support in managing their condition as people with cancer. They need to ensure that all the service providers and care workers have proper training in dementia. Awareness about dementia is not training. Ensure that people with dementia and their family carers have access to a dementia care navigator to help them throughout the journey. It is vital that myself and that my family carer have access to person who has empathy who understands what we are going through.
We need commitments from the politicians that all national and local government officials receive a minimun dementia training session, and those employees dealing directly with the public to receive dementia training. A commitment in our health and care sector to make dementia friendly; raise the inspection levels for care homes. Develop a plan to increase the ambition of people living with dementia.
If a person with dementia needs assistance with voting, they can approach the electoral officer who will provide assistance.
I know who I’m voting for, and who I believe will do the best for the NHS. And those of us with dementia, and our friends, will know the same.”
