Living with dementia, February 2008

Highlights of this edition are available online. Click on the article titles at the bottom of this page to read each article. A downloadable pdf version of the newsletter is also available.

Neil Hunt

Chief executive

This looks to be a major year for us. The government's recent announcement of a Green Paper on the funding of social care is a huge step forward and means we can finally look forward to a funding system that is fair and transparent.

We are now planning our response to the government's consultation on the reformed system, so I would encourage any of you with experiences of being charged for care to please share them with us. They will inform our response and ensure we do all we can to ensure the new system meets your needs. You will find a questionnaire enclosed.

We also look forward to a greater emphasis on the role of social care in helping people live life in the way they choose and we seek better connections between health and social services. Finding a way through the care maze remains absurdly complex for far too many people.

In England, we look forward to the launch of the first National Dementia Strategy and hope the rest of the UK is not far behind.

All these are live issues at Westminster, and we anticipate important announcements in Belfast and Cardiff too. Together, we have helped shape these priorities. We cannot relax our efforts but I think we can and should feel some confidence about what is happening just now.