Devon MP calls for better dementia support

A Devon MP has backed calls for improved dementia care, after the manager of a Honiton charity wrote to him in despair at the lack of support that older people are receiving.

Richard Foord, MP for Honiton & Sidmouth, addressed MPs in Parliament on Wednesday (4th March), as well as the Minister for Care, Stephen Kinnock. 

Mr Foord said: “My constituent, Heather Penwarden is the chair of Dementia Friendly Honiton. She says that dementia care in Devon ‘seems at an all-time low.’”

Mrs Penwarden has written to Mr Kinnock to invite him to visit her charity in Honiton. She was a nurse for many years, and is a carer for a family member. She has spent the last 16 years supporting people living with dementia, and their carers.

Speaking in a debate on healthcare in rural areas, Mr Foord told MPs last week: “One carer, through tears, asked: ‘How bad does it have to be before I get some genuinely helpful and sustained support in looking after my dear husband through his dementia?’”

Cases of dementia in the Honiton & Sidmouth constituency are high. Around 1,300 (1.6%) of people have been diagnosed with dementia, whereas the national average is just half that (0.8%) across England as a whole. There are likely to be more people who have the condition in the area, but have not yet been diagnosed.

Mrs Penwarden’s group worked alongside community psychiatric nurses from Devon Partnership NHS trust, before Dementia Friendly Honiton raised £350,000 to pay for an Admiral Nurse through an embedded scheme. Admiral Nurses are specialist professionals who support people with dementia, and their carers.

The Admiral Nurse attended memory cafés, gave regular advice and prevented crises for those with complex cases, but due to a freeze on NHS recruitment and an apparently “outdated” model of fundraising and hosting, there is little chance of the role being filled again by the Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital.

Speaking after the debate, Mr Foord said: “The incidence of dementia continues to rise across the country. In mid- and east Devon, it is affecting significant numbers of people. The recruitment freeze for an Admiral Nurse in Honiton is causing more suffering and hardship.

“I was disappointed by Mr Kinnock’s response in last week’s debate, and I fully support Heather Penwarden’s invitation to him to visit Dementia Friendly Honiton.”