Dementia campaign to give families open access wins cross-party support
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/mar/07/dementia-johns-campaign-hospital-visit-norman-lamb-andy-burnham
Politicians commit to John's Campaign to allow people 24-hour hospital access to vulnerable patients with dementia, following deluge of support
[1] A campaign to allow friends and family open access to people with dementia while they are in
hospital has seen a significant victory this weekend with backing from senior politicians. The
Observer-backed campaign has won the
support of health minister Norman Lamb, who
has promised to write to all NHS trusts promoting
the idea, while the shadow health secretary,
Andy Burnham, has committed to strengthening
the NHS constitution on the issue and including it
in Labour's election manifesto.
[2] “I could have wept with gratitude and relief,” said
novelist Nicci Gerrard, whose experiences with
her father's hospital care led her to launch John's
Campaign. It calls for the families and carers of
people with dementia to be allowed to remain
with them in hospital for as many hours of the day
and night as necessary. The campaign has been
deluged with support, not only from families but
from doctors, nurses and charities working with people with dementia. Several NHS trusts have
agreed to start implementing changes within their own hospitals and letting staff know what is
expected of them.
[3] Gerrard said cross-party support showed it was not a political issue but one of common sense and
compassion. It is, she writes in the Observer today, “a rare instance where the costs in both
financial and human terms are none and the benefits enormous”.
[4] More than a quarter of hospital beds in the UK are now occupied by people with dementia. Athird
will never return to their own homes and just under half will leave hospital in a worse condition than
when they entered. Gerrard's father, Dr John Gerrard, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in his
70s, deteriorated significantly during his hospital stay last year, something his family felt could
have been avoided had they been allowed to spend more time supporting him while he was there.
[5] The campaigners, backed by Labour MP Valerie Vaz among others, believe the current NHS
advice to parents with children in hospital that they should stay with their child as much as possible
should also apply to people with dementia, who are often vulnerable and very easily distressed.
[6] On Wednesday, which is NHS Change Day – a chance for positive changes at grassroots level to
be highlighted more widely – NHS England is organizing what it is calling a “Thunderclap” on
behalf of John's Campaign, across thousands of social media accounts, including Twitter and
Facebook, at 11am.
No parágrafo 5, o conselho do National Health Service (NHS) é que