Policial opinion: Gillian Keegan MP marks Dementia Action Week in Parliament with Dementia Support

Since her election to Parliament, the MP has campaigned for greater awareness and more funding for research into Dementia. This includes as a minister at the Department for Health and Social Care, where she launched the Government's dementia mission, which doubled funding for dementia research to £160 million a year by 2024 to 2025.

The event in Parliament aimed to raise awareness of the unique Sage House hub model which has transformed the dementia journeys of thousands of people across our community in Chichester. The model has also been found by the University of Chichester to save our local health economy £1,722 per person.

MPs from all major parties attended, including the Minister of State for Social Care, Helen Whately MP, and the Labour Shadow Minister, Andrew Gwynne MP, with many expressing an interest in having a Sage House of their own in their constituency.

Following the event Mrs. Keegan said: “I was so pleased to be able to host Dementia Support in Parliament today for this important event. Given that one in three people in the UK will develop dementia over their lifetime, it is more important than ever that we as lawmakers look at new ways to support people living with this illness and their families.

"This is also personal for me too. As someone who has felt the terrible impact of dementia close to home, I know how much my family would have benefitted from Dementia Support’s one-stop-shop model to help them navigate their dementia journey and ‘live well’ with this illness.”

Sally Tabbner, Chief Executive Officer of Sage House, said: "The event at Westminster last Wednesday was a resounding success and we were delighted as a charity to have the chance to show so many MPs and Peers what a vast difference the Sage House Model makes to the lives of people living with dementia and their loved ones and carers.

“It was the perfect opportunity to demonstrate that there is a way of delivering better support and care to individuals that, at the same time, can save Health and Social Care money into the bargain.

“We are very grateful to Gillian for arranging it, and really hope that it will help us make giant strides in our endeavour to ensure that everyone in the UK has the support and care they need to live well with dementia."

Baroness Browning, Co-Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Dementia, who supported the event said: “I’d like to see a model like this everywhere around the country.

“I think this is trailblazing for several reasons. The fact that it covers the whole journey of somebody with dementia when we know that that journey can be quite hard and many years long. From the initial diagnosis, there’s continuity right the way through to the end of life.

“We know from the latest statistics that 1 in 3 people will at some point in their lifetime have to care for someone with dementia. This effects an awful lot of people.”

You can read more about Dementia Support and their academic evaluation with the University of Chichester here: https://www.chi.ac.uk/news/mps-to-hear-benefits-of-integrated-dementia-care-model-for-patients-and-carers/