Page 26 Daily Mail, Wednesday, August 28, 2019By Eleanor Hayward
Health Reporter
DAME Barbara Windsor yester-
day told Boris Johnson to ‘do
everything he can’ to tackle the
dementia care crisis.
The actress, who was diagnosed with
Alzheimer’s five years ago, will deliver
an open letter to 10 Downing Street
next week warning that the scandal
cannot be ignored any longer.
The 82-year-old and her husband Scott
Mitchell, 56, have spoken out to highlight
the disgraceful neglect of dementia suf-
ferers. On Monday the former Carry On
star will make a rare public appearance to
deliver a letter to the Prime Minister from
the Alzheimer’s Society, which has backed
the Daily Mail’s own campaign on the
same issue.
More than 290,000 have signed the Mail’s
petition calling for urgent dementia care
reform to end the scandal of families hav-
ing to sell their homes to fund care.
Dame Barbara’s intervention adds to
Barbara tells Boris: You must
sort out dementia care crisis
END THE
DEMENTIA CARE
COST BETRAYAL
CAMPAIGN
the pressure on Mr Johnson, who
has publicly vowed to ‘fix the cri-
sis in social care once and for all’ –
but is yet to reveal his plans.
‘My heart goes out to the many,
many people who are really strug-
gling to get the care they so des-
perately need,’ Dame Barbara
said. ‘Let’s do everything we can
to sort this out.’
The ex-EastEnder’s husband
described the situation as a ‘dis-
grace’, calling dementia the ‘dis-
ease of punishment’.
He said: ‘Not only do people have
to live with it and go through the
terror and horror – and their loved
ones caring for them do too, but
on top of that they’ll say “let’s
make it a bit more difficult”.
‘I genuinely feel for the peoplethat have to give up their jobs and
sell their homes, selling their par-
ents’ homes that they have worked
all their lives for.
‘And you do wonder, how did we
get here? How did we get to a situ-
ation where there is so much dis-
regard for people?
‘The conversation is getting
much louder, and they can’t ignoreit. They can’t ignore what’s going
on. It’s a disgrace.
‘We are calling on the public to
help us end this injustice and sign
our open letter. This cannot go on
any longer.’
Dame Barbara was named as an
ambassador for the Alzheimer’s
Society earlier this month along
with her husband. Mr Mitchell,himself a former actor, married
Dame Barbara in 2000. He revealed
her diagnosis publicly last year.
‘Despite all the changes in Bar-
bara, there is still so much of her
there,’ he said. ‘Her humour, wit
and care for others, for example. It
is her humour I love the most – we
have always laughed a lot.’
Jeremy Hughes, of the Alzheim-
er’s Society, said: ‘Barbara and
Scott’s commitment to helping us
achieve our goals is so inspiring.
‘Not only are they going through
their own deeply personal experi-
ence of dementia, they are alsoMeeting: Boris Johnson with Dame Barbara in 2011‘Battling to get the
support they need’
SIGN THE MAIL’S
PETITION AT
change.org/
dementiacare
leading our campaign, and Scott
is visiting others affected to get a
broader insight from those des-
perately battling the care system
to try and get the support and
care they need.
‘One million people in the UK
will have dementia by 2021 – yet
the system is in disarray, com-
pletely unprepared to support the
growing numbers of people receiv-
ing a dementia diagnosis.’
The Mail has called for a series of
measures to help families, from an
NHS ‘dementia fund’ to a new
Cabinet post with the sole respon-
sibility for providing a definitive
plan of action.