Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:57 pm on 16 May 2017.
Just a few quick points because most of them have been covered. Going on the risk reduction, I think the six points and ‘Together for a Dementia Friendly Wales’ are absolutely crucial, and I wondered what more the Cabinet Secretary could do to publicise those steps. I think, obviously, the very important one of trying new things—Rhun ap Iorwerth brought forward the idea of learning a language, the Welsh language—and I wanted to highlight, which I think I’ve mentioned in this Chamber before, singing for people with dementia and the Forget-me-Not Chorus, which covers Cardiff, the Vale and Newport and which is such an inspiring activity that involves people with dementia and, of course, their carers as well. So, I wondered if there were any plans to encourage and support activities like that, which are outside the health and social care sector completely. I believe that is done in conjunction with the Welsh National Opera, that particular activity.
I’m very glad to see he’s put such an emphasis on raising awareness. I think it’s very important that awareness is raised not only for the individuals and for public bodies, but also private companies. I’m sure many of us has seen what British Gas is doing in relation to this, which is trying very hard to become a dementia-friendly organisation. It’s been overwhelmed with offers from staff to be dementia champions. I think they had aimed for 15 and had 50 immediately. Now their engineers are having training, which means that when they go into people’s homes they are aware of all the issues related to dementia. I think there’s a huge job to do there, beyond the places we’ve got our natural levers with in the public sector. I don’t know if he had any plans to look at that.
The end-of-life care you’ve covered in your response to Lynne Neagle, but I wanted to reiterate my support for what Lynne Neagle said about the particular needs of the Gypsy and Traveller community. They do have a very early death rate compared to the rest of the public, and I really think that addressing the particular needs in relation to the dementia strategy are very important.