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 help ensure that people with dementia in Solihull constituency have access to advanced therapeutic interventions.

The Department has produced guidance on what to expect from health and care services following a dementia diagnosis. The guidance can help those diagnosed with dementia, or caring for someone with dementia, to understand the kind of support and services available to them in England.

Advanced therapeutic interventions cover a range of activities, including Cognitive Stimulation Therapy (CST). CST has been found to help the memory and thinking skills of people with mild to moderate dementia, with people who took part in group therapy reporting improved quality of life. Guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence recommends that people with mild to moderate dementia should be given the opportunity to take part in a group CST programme. The Community Mental Health Trust has recently re-started formal face-to-face support training of CST for those patients living with dementia when there is clinical evidence that CST will prove a benefit in the management of their dementia.