Alzheimer's Society Fight To Avoid Leaving Vulnerable People In Lincs Without Vital Support

Alzheimer's Society is calling on Lincolnshire residents to help prevent those affected by dementia from being abandoned without support.


Alzheimer's Society is calling on Lincolnshire residents to help prevent those affected by dementia from being abandoned without support. The Society is deeply concerned that, as Lincolnshire County Council has not renewed contracts, Alzheimer's Society has been forced to close the services it provided for carers of people with dementia in the county. The Society is now actively calling for volunteers to join its campaign, help deliver alternative services and fundraise, to make sure that people affected by dementia are not left to cope alone.


Pat Johnson, 67, from South Lincolnshire, says,


'I'm utterly devastated at the news that our local Alzheimer's Society service is closing. I know I speak on behalf of the whole group when I say that without our local support worker's constant help and support, we will be lost. My husband has had Alzheimer's for six years so I can tell you that coping with someone that has dementia on a daily basis is challenging enough. How can Lincolnshire Council leave us with no support or help?'


Ian Howarth, Alzheimer's Society Area Manager - East Midlands says,


'It's unacceptable that we are forced to close our services. This will have a devastating effect on the community, as it's vital those affected by dementia receive the support they so desperately rely on.'


We understand the difficulties the current economic and political environment place on the council's decision making, but we will be campaigning to ensure that the council reinstate and expand statutory services to meet the needs outlined in Lincolnshire Dementia Strategy. Commissioners of services need to understand that a likely outcome of not providing services to support people through dementia is that they will reach 'crisis point', where they are unable to cope with the pressures of daily care and require even more costly emergency intervention.


Approximately 10,000 people have dementia in Lincolnshire, and for the three years to June 2010 Lincolnshire County Council contracted Alzheimer's Society to provide services to support some of those caring for them. Alzheimer's Society had expected services would be continued and even expanded to reach across the entire county, in line with the recently launched Lincolnshire Dementia Strategy. It therefore bore the costs of providing existing services, when the contract ended in June, in the hope that the funding gap would be a temporary arrangement.


As no new contracts have since been offered by Lincolnshire County Council to Alzheimer's Society, or any other organisations, to provide any dementia related services, it has become necessary for Alzheimer's Society to close its carer support groups. However, the Society refuses to stop campaigning for the needs of people affected by dementia and is calling for help from the local community to add their voice, fundraise and volunteer.


Alzheimer's Society hopes to be in a position to develop a new range of services next year to meet the need identified in Lincolnshire Dementia Strategy. This will increase the choice available to people affected by dementia, in addition to those available when statutory services are resumed.


Alzheimer's Society has formed a Community Dementia Forum in Lincolnshire where organisations such as Lincolnshire Police, as well as interested members of the community, can come together and plan ideas to address some of the issues that people affected by dementia face in the county. The first meeting will focus on issues related to people being confused and walking the streets alone.


Source:

Alzheimer's Society