On 2 September, Alzheimer’s Society went to Downing Street, the UK Prime Minister’s residence, to hand in a letter calling on the new Prime Minister Boris Johnson to make dementia care an urgent priority for the Government. The letter was signed by 112,752 Alzheimer’s Society supporters, showing just how important the issue of dementia care is to the public.
On the day, they were joined by former EastEnders (British television programme) actress Dame Barbara Windsor, who is living with dementia, her husband Scott Mitchell, and two Alzheimer’s Society campaigners, Nimisha and Namrata, whose father is living with dementia. It was great to see ambassadors and campaigners united together to demand that the Prime Minister takes action on dementia care.
After the letter hand in, Alzheimer’s Society CEO Jeremy Hughes, and Director of Policy, Campaigns and Partnerships, Sally Copley, joined Dame Barbara and Scott for a meeting with Boris Johnson. This was a great opportunity to speak to the Prime Minister directly about the issues with cost, quality and access in the care system faced by people with dementia every day, and to show him just how many people across the country are supporting the campaign.
Overall, the day was a great success, with both national and regional media coverage of the letter hand in, demonstrating the public appetite for the issue of dementia care and the need for care reform. Alzheimer’s Society are pleased to see this attention on an issue which has been repeatedly passed over by successive Governments, and will be working to harness this momentum into the next stage of the Fix Dementia Care campaign.
For more information on Alzheimer’s Society’s Fix Dementia Care campaign visit: www.alzheimers.org.uk/get-involved/our-campaigns/fix-dementia-care