Carers: National Strategy
Debate between Baroness Pitkeathley and Lord Evans of Rainow
Baroness Pitkeathley (Lab)
My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper and draw attention to my interests as set out in the register.
Lord Evans of Rainow (Con)
My Lords, we have set out our strategic approach for supporting unpaid carers in People at the Heart of Care, published in 2021. The enormous contribution made by unpaid carers is reflected throughout Next Steps to Put People at the Heart of Care, published in 2023. Ministerial colleagues indicated last year their intention to meet annually, in the run-up to Carers Week, to share ongoing work to support unpaid carers and identify opportunities to work together to achieve more.
Baroness Pitkeathley (Lab)
My Lords, I thank the Minister for his response. I never have any difficulty getting agreement that carers are vital to our health and social care system and should be supported, but I doubt if the 5,000 carers just surveyed by Carers UK about a national strategy will be very pleased with his Answer. They emphasise how vital this kind of step change is if they are to be able to continue caring while safeguarding their own health and finances. What they, I and all those who work with carers want is a national strategy that covers all relevant departments and is led by the Prime Minister, as the last one was in 2008 by the then Prime Minister, Gordon Brown. This Government promised a national strategy in 2015. Why are carers still waiting?
Lord Evans of Rainow (Con)
I pay tribute to the noble Baroness for the work that she has done and her lifetime service to carers and to the voluntary service. We are fortunate to have her in this place. We will continue to work together across government to support unpaid carers. Ministerial colleagues and senior leaders from the Department for Work and Pensions, the Department for Business and Trade, the Department for Education and the Department of Health and Social Care, as well as NHS England, met last year to share ongoing activity and identify opportunities to achieve more. Ministers indicated their commitment to meeting on an annual basis, most likely in the lead- up to Carers Week. We recognise the importance of continuing to improve data and evidence and will note the results of the APPG/Carers UK survey, in addition to other sources once available.
Dementia Diagnosis
Debate between Baroness Pitkeathley and Lord Evans of Rainow
Lord Evans of Rainow (Con)
We try to diagnose right first time, but the noble Lord mentioned the important point of different languages. I do not have a specific answer on what we are doing about that, so I will write to him.
Baroness Pitkeathley (Lab)
My Lords, timely and accurate diagnosis of dementia is also important to the families of such patients, who are often providing care in very difficult circumstances. While commitment to patient confidentiality is of course important, does the Minister agree that such information must be shared as soon as possible with the families who are providing care?
Lord Evans of Rainow (Con)
The noble Baroness is entirely correct. We want a society where every person with dementia and their families and carers receive high-quality, compassionate care from diagnosis through to the end of life. NHS England is committed to delivering high-quality care and support for every person with dementia, and central to that is the provision of personalised care and support, with planning for post-diagnostic support. This is a terrible disease and not one hat fits all, so, as the noble Baroness points out, we have to personalise it wherever we can.