Dementia patients 'need relationships'

People with dementia should be involved in decisions about their care and must be helped to maintain relationships and to participate in their communities, according to official guidance published today.

The quality standard for Supporting People to Live Well With Dementia is the first guide in the social-care field to be published by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, the former NHS body which has been renamed to reflect its expanded remit but will still be known by the acronym Nice.

New standards for the 67,000 children in care were also published by Nice today which say children should have opportunities to “explore and make sense of their identity and relationships” and move to independence at their own pace.

The standards will allow people with dementia and children in care and their carers to hold providers of care to account. Sir Andrew Dillon, chief executive of Nice, said the advice would “help users and help providers to give the system the opportunity to apply resources to the best effect.”