Dementia: Welsh charities call for more action and support or risk collapse of NHS
Urgent calls have been made to prioritise dementia care in Wales or risk the collapse of the NHS.
The number of older people living with dementia in Wales is set to rise by 70% by 2040.
It’s a figure charities are warning will have huge implications for health and social care and society.
Dementia is a general term used for the impaired ability to remember, think, or make decisions, with Alzheimer's disease the most common type.
The Welsh Government’s Dementia action plan ran from 2018 to 2022, with alterations made during the Covid pandemic.
While it has confirmed it is currently working on successor arrangements, leading charities are calling for more clarity on what can be expected.
They have called for fresh data and a revised blueprint to take into account the expected rise in cases further down the line.
Jolian Ardolino, Area Manager for Alzheimer's Society Cymru, told ITV’s Wales This Week programme: “[We need] a new dementia action plan to be implemented by the Welsh Government across all the regions in Wales.
“We’ve been trying to influence the Welsh Government and we’re open to being around the table in any way we can to bring that insight from our experience of supporting people directly.”
“We are calling on the Welsh Government to produce a new dementia action plan that is forward thinking.
“We’re also calling for them to publish a timeline for that and really focus on the action part of that plan going forward.”
For many people who develop dementia, the support of family is crucial to their wellbeing and quality of life, with many becoming full time carers as symptoms progress and worsen.
Paul Allchurch from Carmarthenshire had to care full time for his father Brian before he passed away in February.
After several years of caring for his father, the decision was made for Brian to move into a care setting.
“I went out shopping and I came back, he went to the toilet and he collapsed on the floor.
“He had to go to hospital and social services intervened and safeguarding and they said it won't be safe for him to be at home.
“I was pretty relieved because he was in the best place for him, but I felt I was abandoning him.
“When the bus came to pick him up, I sat outside and I was like ‘why have I done it?’”
Paul’s experience is typical of many other people across the country.
It is believed there are a total of five unpaid carers for every two people living with dementia in Wales.
That number is projected to rise as the number of people with dementia rises, and is an area where charities are calling for more support.
Jake Smith, policy officer for Carers Wales, said: “You can really see how these trends will lead to even more people being required to provide unpaid care.
“If unpaid carers cannot manage, that will only place additional pressures on the NHS, on local Government, on all of our vital public services.
“If we can invest in unpaid carers we will see those benefits in so many other areas and so many other services because carers will better be able to manage looking after their loved ones in the home, contributing to keeping people who really need support healthy, safe and fulfilled.”
A spokesperson for the Welsh Government said: “Our Dementia Action Plan sets out our policy direction and we have a clear vision for Wales to be a dementia friendly nation that recognises the rights of people with dementia to feel valued and to live as independently as possible in their communities.
“We recognise that dementia is a significant health and social care issue which impacts not only on those living with dementia, but on their families, friends and carers too.
“We want to create a society without stigma – where people living with dementia continue to go about their day to day life with the wider public who are understanding and know how to provide support.”
Watch Wales This Week Dementia: In Loving Memory on Thursday, December 14 at 8:30pm on ITV Cymru Wales and catch up on ITVX afterwards.