The National Dementia Strategy, Living Well with Dementia heralded a set of national policy initiatives focusing on dementia. For the first time, policy makers described outcomes and services that people with dementia and their carers should be able to expect. The Strategy, along with a range of other recent dementia policy initiatives, together highlighted some common areas for improvement, including:

• better access to services
• improving the range of services to include not only health and social care but also other services such as telecare and housing
• dementia services should not be based on age
• service integration
• early diagnosis and treatment
• help and support for carers/families
• supporting independent living, and
• a ‘whole systems’ or joined up approach to commissioning.

Two years after the publication of the National Dementia Strategy, improvements have indeed been implemented – notably in the provision of early diagnosis and (medical) treatment through the commissioning and development of memory services across the country. However many of the areas marked for improvement – including integrated services, a whole systems approach to commissioning, and support for independent living – have yet to be adequately addressed.

This Executive Summary reports on the key findings and recommendations from the project and is necessarily brief. The full report includes quotes and vignettes from people living with dementia and good practice examples. It also includes an Appendix, suggesting a range of services that could be commissioned in line with the proposed new model of care.