Coronavirus: The Government must keep people affected by dementia safe in the social care system

At present, care home residents are being cut off from their families, denied access to hospital treatment, and routinely encouraged to sign Do Not Resuscitate orders. We are calling on Government to implement measures that will put an end to the lack of consideration to those who need social care.

There are more than 400,000 people living in care homes in the UK, more than 70% of which are living with some form of dementia. Many of these people also have other underlying health conditions.

This group of the population are extremely vulnerable to contracting the virus, and we are concerned that measures are not being put in place to protect them.

Without proper testing or protective equipment, care home staff are struggling to cope. They are putting themselves in danger to care for other people, while at the same time risking carrying the disease to vulnerable groups. Care home workers urgently need more support and protection.

We know the devastation that will be caused in every home where the virus takes hold. We have seen already the tragedy of thirteen deaths in a week in the Burlington Court care home in Glasgow.

We’re calling for provision of Personal Protective Equipment and more testing: for patients discharged, care home staff and residents

Two thirds of care home residents in England are living with dementia. Thousands of lives are at risk. But with a national focus on measuring deaths in hospitals, deaths from coronavirus in care homes are not even being measured or published.

The impact of the virus on care homes must be measured, published and acted upon

Families are terrified and they need the Government to step in. We have heard from thousands of people affected by dementia from across the UK, many of whom play a significant role in their loved ones’ care home support.

Equally, if people living with dementia don’t use their basic cognition and communications skills frequently by talking and interacting with visiting family members, they could lose them. Some people have even told us they can already see this has started to happen.

We’re asking Government to work with technology companies to put in place arrangements to make sure residents can continue to contact their loved ones

Overall, the Government must make clear that people with dementia matter and that no one will be abandoned to this virus simply because of their age or their dementia.

This is why we have written to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Matt Hancock, outlining our concerns and what we want to see to ensure the safety of people affected by dementia in the social care system during lockdown and the Coronavirus outbreak.