Scotland's National Dementia Strategy

That the Parliament notes the publication of Scotland’s National Dementia Strategy ahead of Dementia Awareness Week; welcomes the programme of work, including improving staff skills and knowledge in both health and social care settings, implementing dementia care pathway standards and reducing the inappropriate use of psychoactive medication; considers that this programme of action is essential following a series of reports, including Remember, I’m Still Me, published jointly by the Care Commission and Mental Welfare Commission, which highlighted the inefficiencies in the quality of care for people with dementia in the community, in care homes and in long-term hospital care; further notes the importance that the strategy places on developing and implementing standards of care, drawing on the Charter of Rights for People with Dementia and Their Carers, which was produced by the Scottish Parliament’s Cross Party Group on Alzheimer’s; thanks all those who contributed to the development of both the charter of rights and the strategy, including those who attended the National Dialogue on Dementia consultation events held across Scotland; believes that, to be successful, this strategy needs to be properly resourced and monitored in order to ensure that people with dementia receive the highest level of treatment and quality of care that can be given, and calls on the Scottish Government to bring forward a debate on the strategy before the summer recess.