Which mayor would make London dementia friendly?

The Alzheimer’s Society has given representatives of the political parties standing candidates for London Mayor to explain how they would help people with dementia if their candidate wins the election on 5th May. To help the parties make their policy minds up, the charity has also launched a Dementia Manifesto. The charity wants to see London become the world’s first dementia friendly capital city by 2020 – where every person with dementia can access the right support, at the right time, no matter where they live – and the London Mayor would be a key person in achieving that aim.

Angela Rippon, who is an Alzheimer’s Society ambassador, presided at the Manifesto launch this week. She said: “I am backing the Alzheimer’s Society’s aim to make London dementia friendly as I believe that people with dementia deserve to be given the best chance at a full life with access to the right support, following a timely diagnosis. We need to ensure that we end the postcode lottery and help improve the lives of the 72,000 people in London living with dementia.”

New figures show that dementia costs the capital £2.4 billion per year, more than £1 billion of which is contributed by the work of unpaid carers of people with dementia. As Tim McLachlan, the Alzheimer’s Society Operations Director for London, explained: “These new figures show that dementia is costing London £2.4 billion per year – that’s almost £33,000 per person. Dementia is an issue that London cannot afford to ignore.”

Gary Whiting, 63, who is living with dementia, remains fairly independent but says changes could be made to make everyday life a little easier for people with dementia – and many of these measures would help older people too. “The drivers on the buses pull away so fast; you haven’t got a chance to sit down before they throw you all over the place. I think the drivers need to be retrained to be more aware of older people and those with dementia,” he explained. “The Underground is particularly confusing and daunting. If there is one thing the Mayor could do it would be to look at placing staff at stations, especially the big hubs, to offer support and guidance.” His words come in a week when a young mother has revealed that a London Underground staff member was reluctant to help her with her pram when she asked for assistance.

Sadiq Khan, Labour’s mayoral candidate, was quick to pledge his support, saying, “I support the Alzheimer’s Society’s ambition for London to be the first dementia-friendly capital city in the world because everyone living with dementia should be able to access the high-quality and compassionate support they need. As Mayor, I will champion work to improve dementia services to ensure that people receive a timely diagnosis, adequate support and high quality care.”

Sian Berry, the Green Party’s mayoral candidate, echoed Khan’s pledge, saying, “If I’m elected Mayor I will train frontline TfL staff – who already have a superb customer service record – to be dementia-aware, and Green Assembly Members will lead the way by going on dementia-awareness courses ourselves. I’ll also introduce this awareness to planning policies to make the streets easier to negotiate – such as by providing safe crossings at the places where people are most likely to want to cross roads.”

Victoria Borwick, MP for Kensington, was present at the event on behalf of the Conservative Party. She said: “Much has been done to develop comprehensive support services across the capital but there are still areas with limited support services. The effort to improve diagnosis rates and ensure dementia patients get the support they need regardless of which London borough they live in must continue. I support the Mayor’s vision to establish a Dementia Institute for London which will make the City a world leader in dementia care.” She made no reference to the Conservative Party’s austerity programme which has cut NHS and Local Authority care budgets and made life worse for many dementia sufferers and their families.

Caroline Pidgeon, Lib-Dem mayoral candidate, indicated that in the unlikely event of her winning the mayoral election, she would also help. She said, “As Mayor I would want to see how we can […] encourage common standards across all London’s boroughs so all people are offered equal access to support and advice.”

•The Alzheimer’s Society provides a National Dementia Helpline, 0300-222 11 22.
•To find out more about the Dementia Manifesto, go to: www.alzheimers.org.uk/London2016