Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to meet the additional needs of people living with dementia whose conditions have seen accelerated progression during the pandemic.

We recognise that many older adults, including those living with dementia, have experienced deconditioning or the loss of physical, psychological and functional capacity due to inactivity during the pandemic. As part of the adult social care white paper, ‘People at the Heart of Care’, we are investing £3 million over three years to establish a deconditioning inequalities innovation fund, which aims to support people at particularly high risk of deconditioning, including those with dementia.

In addition, NHS England and NHS Improvement have made guidance and resources available to address the rehabilitation needs of people living with dementia, including ‘Dementia wellbeing in the COVID-19 pandemic’, which is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/C1280_Dementia-wellbeing-in-the-COVID-pandemic-v3.pdf

We have also commissioned research through the National Institute for Health Research on mitigating the impact of COVID-19 on people with dementia and their carers living in the community. Summary leaflets were produced for those with dementia and their carers, which are available at the following link:

http://www.idealproject.org.uk/covid/