Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what training is provided to health professionals to ensure culturally sensitive dementia care.

We want all relevant staff to have received the appropriate training in order to provide high quality care to people with dementia, whether in hospital or in the community.

Individual employers are responsible for ensuring their staff are trained and competent to carry out their role, and for investing in the future of their staff by providing continuing professional development funding.

The required training needs are set out in the Dementia training Standards Framework, which is available at the following link:

https://www.skillsforhealth.org.uk/info-hub/dementia-2015-updated-2018/

It sets out the essential knowledge and skills and expected learning outcomes applicable across the health and care spectrum. The framework was commissioned and funded by the Department and developed in collaboration with the sector. It notes that person-centred dementia care involves considering the whole person, taking into account not just their health condition, but also each individual’s life history, unique abilities, interests, culture, preferences, and needs.

There are a variety of resources available on the NHS England E-learning for Health platform, including a programme on dementia care, designed to enhance the training and education of the health and social care workforce.

NHS England has also published a guide which aims to help health and social care workers provide dementia care which corresponds to the needs and wishes of people from a wide range of ethnic groups, especially minority ethnic groups. Further information is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/intercultural-dementia-care-guide/