Speaking Up for Those Who Have Lost Their Voice to Dementia

Many of you may already know that my amazing Dad, David, is suffering with dementia. It was so important to me to speak up in parliament for him, and thousands like him.

This week I urged the government to act on the long wait for a diagnosis that far too many experience, a wait that takes up precious weeks and months when they could be benefiting from treatment. I also took the opportunity to praise the excellent Admiral Nurses and talk about the big difference that specially trained nursing staff can make.

Here is the full speech:

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I'd like to start by thanking the honourable member for South Devon for securing this most important of debates. Dementia care is a subject incredibly close to my heart and that of many of my constituents who write to me in Amber Valley.

Any of the honourable members who were present when I made my maiden speech may recall me speaking about my dad, David Farnsworth. Once an extremely talkative man, like so many others, sadly, dementia has taken his voice. With this in mind, it's incumbent on me and other member honourable members to use our voices in this place to advocate for much needed improvements to dementia care.

This must start with increased diagnosis. Alzheimer’s UK is rightly calling on the government to improve dementia diagnosis rates and set ambitious targets for the future. NHS statistics show that diagnosis rates as of July 2024 were 65%, so a third of people living with dementia across the UK still don't have a diagnosis, meaning they're missing out on the vital care, support and symptomatic treatment it can bring.

Madam Deputy Speaker, the picture is particularly bad for the 70,800 people in the UK who are estimated to have young onset dementia. Where symptoms develop before the age of 65, diagnosis can take twice as long as for older people. My father in law, Michael Spare, was diagnosed with dementia at the age of 64. My mother in law, Yvonne, recalls how hard it was to get a diagnosis and be taken seriously, despite them both knowing that there was a problem. Dementia UK advocates for the government to mandate every Integrated Care System to develop a young onset dementia pathway to include providing timely and accurate diagnosis. And I wholeheartedly support this.

When my dad was diagnosed with dementia in 2018, my family and I were frightened. At the time, I had a colleague, Sue, who had gone through this with her mother. She was kind enough to give me some advice:  “Try not to focus on what you've lost. Celebrate what you can still share and enjoy together”.

I remembered that advice recently when my stepmom, Kate, started the engine of my dad's beloved classic car. His face lit up at the sound. Somewhere deep inside, he remembers the joy of restoring his Triumph Spitfire, over many years.

Not everyone, however, will have someone like Sue to talk to. And living with dementia can be very lonely. For those people, Admiral, nurses employed by Dementia UK are a godsend. They provide an invaluable service to families confronting or navigating the reality of living with dementia.

I recently had the pleasure of meeting Kath Hunt, who works at the Ripley branch of Nationwide Building Society.  Nationwide are partnering with Dementia UK to offer free appointments with Admiral nurses in high street branches across the country, including in Ripley. Sadly, there are far too few Admiral nurses. And whilst I'm thankful that this scheme exists, it shouldn't fall to partnerships like this for families to get support.

Dementia UK recommends that Admiral or specialist nurses should be core members of multidisciplinary neighbourhood health centres, to provide vital care in the community. And I wholeheartedly support this recommendation. Admiral and specialist  dementia nurses can also be based in hospital, but they are few and far between. When my Dad was hospitalized for an infection unrelated to his dementia, he was put on a general ward. He was so ill we thought dad would never get out of bed. Several weeks into his hospitalization, I saw a nurse perform what seemed a miracle. He was able to get my dad to engage and even got him to stand up. Amazed, I asked how this could be. He explained that he usually worked in the dementia ward. It was his expert skills and knowledge rather than a miracle that made the difference.

But the nurse was certainly an angel in my eyes. Dementia UK is demanding that the government commit ringfenced funding for a dementia specialist nurse service within each NHS acute trust. AnA age UK is calling for urgent improvements to staff training in hospitals to ensure people with dementia have their needs fully met, and I support both of those measures.

My Dad is now at home and is looked after by my stepmom Kate and my brother Brad Farnsworth, supported by visiting carers. I recently asked if they have specialist training for caring for people with dementia. They hadn't but would find it useful. They're not alone. Despite people living with dementia making up 70% of residents of old age residential care and 60% of people drawing on care at home, around 29% of social care staff have no record of dementia training.

I'm calling for mandatory training for social care staff in line with the Dementia Training Standards Framework. This is absolutely essential and I'll continue campaigning for this going forward. With the Ten Year Health Plan for England due, this is a key moment in time. It's vital that improving dementia care is included in the NHS reforms, and I implore the government to not pass up the opportunity to, at long last, fix dementia care.