Prof Alistair Burns, Professor of Medicine at Manchester University and the UK’s first ‘dementia Tsar’, gave a very inspiring speech to the UK’s Alzheimer Society.

Prof. Burns made it clear that dementia was a top priority for the Coalition govenment. This is confirmed by the fact hat Ruth Sutherland, acting CEO of the Alzheimer’s Society, was rung up on day 1 of the Coalition government for the views of the Alzheimer’s Society regarding dementia care.

Indeed, dementia care has been identified as a clear target for NHS quality initiatives. This marks a sea change in health policy priorities from only a few years ago, and perhaps can be taken to be an indication of a wish to see the merging of clinical and social care financial issues under the term of the Coalition government, and beyond.

Prof Burns made specific reference to the ‘Acute awareness’ document of the NHS Confederation.

In this, the NHS Confederation provide for the following:

Dementia currently affects over a half a million people in England alone; this number is set to rise considerably as more people live longer. Sixty thousand deaths a year are directly attributable to dementia, and the current cost to the NHS is estimated at £1.3 billion a year. This report looks at the key issues for NHS trusts in improving care for patients with dementia, the majority of whom will have been admitted for another condition. It showcases the innovative work that NHS trusts and cross-agency partnerships are undertaking in this area to enhance patient care and describes how significant improvements can be achieved in terms of both the quality and efficiency of patient care.

The UK Alzheimer’s Society is indeed looking forward to keeping dementia as a top clinical priority for the NHS. Jeremy Hughes, from Breakthrough Breast Cancer, has fully embraced the critical importance of giving full support to researchers to improving clinical practice and outcomes, and has indeed been a big success there. He will be becoming the new CEO of the Alzheimer’s Society from November 2010, heralding a very exciting time for the Alzheimer’s Society.

(c) Dr Shibley Rahman 2010