Government social care reform update pledges dementia framework

The government has promised to publish a new dementia and frailty framework by the end of the year and appoint a dementia tsar as part of its response to recommendations from Baroness Louise Casey’s independent commission on adult social care.

In a letter updating Baroness Casey on progress since her initial recommendations were published in March, health secretary James Murray and care minister Stephen Kinnock said the framework would provide an ‘outcome-led blueprint’ for improving support for people living with dementia.

The ministers acknowledged that the growing impact of dementia had long been anticipated but insufficiently addressed.

‘The rise in dementia prevalence, mortality and morbidity has been both predictable and predicted,’ they wrote.

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‘Despite this, when this government entered office we inherited a dearth of research, prevention, early detection, treatment and care.’

According to the letter, the new framework will aim to deliver a ‘once in a generation shift’ for people living with dementia by improving access to diagnosis, treatment and community-based support.

Progress will be overseen by a new dementia tsar, with recruitment due to begin shortly.

The ministers said they would also review how dementia is approached across the Department of Health and Social Care and its arm’s length bodies, with the aim of producing a single ‘coherent strategy’ spanning research to practice.

The letter also confirmed the adoption of a target to increase participation in UK dementia trials to 2,000 people within the next five years, up from 377 in 2025-26.

The ministers wrote: ‘Our aim isn’t just to support the science, as important as that is.

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‘It’s equally to prepare the health service for future breakthroughs, so that we have the infrastructure and care pathways we need to get innovations to patients quickly.’

The letter states that a package of measures is being developed to support this goal, including additional investment in diagnostic research, increased funding for the AD-SMART trial, the next phase of the Dementia Trials Accelerator and stronger multi-site research infrastructure.

The letter also indicated that a decision on whether to fund pilot access to the Alzheimer’s drugs lecanemab and donanemab through the ACCESS-AD consortium would be made after a National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) committee meeting scheduled for 8 July.

On safeguarding, the ministers confirmed a new national adult safeguarding board had been established, chaired by the chief social worker Sarah McClinton and reporting to Mr Kinnock.

The board’s initial priorities include updating the Care Act statutory guidance on adult safeguarding – covering issues such as homelessness, drugs and alcohol, and transitional safeguarding – overseeing an urgent review of the legal framework for safeguarding, and strengthening national oversight of local safeguarding adults boards.

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On motor neurone disease (MND), the ministers said they had written to all local authorities asking them to take immediate steps to improve the timeliness and co-ordination of care, including fast-tracked access to support, streamlined multi-team assessments in line with the MND Association’s guidance, faster processing of disabled facilities grants and consideration of waiving the grant’s means test.

According to the letter, a full prototype fast-track pathway for people with MND is also under development.