Putting care right

Aim

Alzheimer's Society's putting care right campaign aims to improve the quality of care that people with dementia receive.

Why are we campaigning for better quality care?

Alzheimer's Society believes that people with dementia have a right to good quality dementia care.

700,000 people live with dementia in the UK yet there are huge variations in the quality of dementia care. With the right support people with dementia can live their lives to the full yet too often Alzheimer's Society hears from families affected by dementia who have experience poor quality care.

Dementia is a major issue facing health and social care services. Two thirds of people with dementia live in the community and a third in a care home. A quarter of people on hospital wards have dementia. Health and social care professionals tell us that they don't receive enough training and support to care for people with dementia.

What is Alzheimer's Society doing?

Alzheimer's Society is campaigning to improve the quality of care for people with dementia by providing evidence on the current state of dementia care and influencing the people who can make a difference. Locally Alzheimer's Society campaigners are also taking action as part of our Campaigners' Network.

Currently our priority is to improve the quality of care that people with dementia receive in hospital. Our new report Counting the cost of dementia: caring for people with dementia on hospital wards reveals a huge variation in the quality of care people receive is having a detrimental impact of people's lives and costing the NHS millions of pounds.

What's happened so far?

People with dementia care needs are complex and change over time so as part of its campaign Alzheimer's Society has looked at the quality of care that people with dementia receive in different settings - whether a care home, hospital, or at home.

In November 2007, the Alzheimer's Society released a report revealing the state of dementia care in care homes. Home from Home is based on a survey of over 3,500 experiences of dementia care in care homes and presents new statistics and findings into the quality of dementia care in care homes. As part of this work Alzheimer's Society also produced a guide for people who are choosing a care home.

Alzheimer's Society believes that the inappropriate overuse of dangerous antipsychotic drugs has a dramatic impact on the quality of care that people with dementia receive. As part of the Putting Care Right campaign we have been campaigning to end this over prescription.

In June 2009, the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Dementia (APPG) published the findings of its inquiry into the dementia care skills of care home staff and staff supporting people with dementia in their own homes. Alzheimer's Society submitted evidence and supported this enquiry.

A report by Alzheimer's Society called Social care: A lifeline for people with dementia and their carers outlines people's experiences of social care. It aims to raise the profile of social care and the vital role it plays in ensuring the needs of people with dementia and their carers are met.

To get involved in our campaigns email campaignersnetwork@alzheimers.org.uk