Commission on Improving Dignity in Care for Older People report calls for 'Major Cultural Shift' to tackle undignified care

It has today (Monday 18 June) launched a report 'Delivering Dignity', which calls for a 'major cultural shift' to tackle poor and undignified care of older people in care homes and hospitals.

Based on feedback from older people and their carers, the report sets out specific recommendations called 'always events' to be implemented in hospitals and care homes and to act as basic rules to ensure dignified care.

A copy of the report will be sent to every NHS and care home chief executive in England, and will be followed later in the year by an action plan providing practical solutions to support the recommendations.

Alzheimer's Society comment:

'It is vitally important that anyone in hospital or a care home can be confident they will be treated with dignity and receive good quality care. People with dementia account for a quarter of hospital inpatients and two-thirds of care home residents. With half of people with dementia leaving hospital in worse health than when they arrived, we know that often the care is currently not good enough. Lack of training in dementia is a major reason behind this.

'We hope that the recommendations in 'Delivering Dignity' will help improve care by offering practical advice to hospitals and care homes, helping them to improve standards and change attitudes towards people living with dementia.'

Andrew Chidgey
Director of External Affairs
Alzheimer's Society