English: Dementia is a cruel, cruel disease that has a huge impact on thousands of families across Wales. I know about its devastating impact through my own family as my great aunt had dementia. We will hear many personal and powerful stories shared during this debate, so to complement that, I wanted to focus on what the third sector organisations had to say about what could be done to help improve people's lives and soften the blow that dementia delivers. The Alzheimer's Society Cymru estimate that there are around 50,000 people in Wales living with dementia, and this is only a best guess since the current diagnosis rate, as we've heard, is only 50 per cent. That figure is expected to double by 2050. Having such an inaccurate picture of dementia in Wales means many people are not receiving the support they need or deserve. It also means that many who are receiving support are receiving it later than they should, resulting in poorer outcomes for all those concerned. Anecdotal evidence suggests that around 4,000 people in Wales are waiting for an assessment by the memory assessment service due to the COVID backlog. As well as improved and earlier diagnosis, Alzheimer's Society Cymru are in favour of a national dementia data observatory, as we heard from Luke earlier, to collect, analyse and disseminate information on dementia to all those agencies and service providers that need accurate data to help them plan and deliver dementia services across Wales. Many families with experience of dementia know that the burden of care often falls upon them. We know from the first coronavirus lockdown that family and friends spent an extra 92 million hours caring for loved ones with dementia. Since the pandemic began, it is estimated that unpaid carers have provided £135 billion-worth of care across the UK. Unpaid carers have been taken for granted, but at what cost to them? It cannot continue. Existing difficulties in accessing appropriate support services, carers' assessments and respite care have been magnified by the pandemic. The chronically underfunded social care system left many with nowhere to turn. Dementia symptoms worsened for many due to the lack of expert help during the pandemic. It is vital that we learn the lessons from the pandemic. The pandemic exposed the flaws in the system, and it is incumbent on those with the responsibility and the power to rebuild the system be better equipped to deal with the kinds of extreme stresses and strains that we have seen over the last 18 months. I will now turn to the social care system in Wales - a matter I have raised already this week with the First Minister, during First Minister's questions, due to the actions of the Labour-controlled Caerphilly County Borough Council and the devastating plans for social care for disabled adults. There is so much to improve on, and until we see some radical policies in this field, patients, their families and the staff that work in this sector will continue to suffer. That radical change should be in the form of a merger between social care and healthcare. We have been calling for this for the best part of a decade, yet we seem no closer to it. If care was free at the point of need and if there was a culture change that saw care workers respected and valued in terms of pay and conditions, then there would be a step change for workers in the sector, and also the patients that need this vital service. A merger would not just benefit those with dementia, but everybody in need of social care. I urge this Government to do what is right for the people in Wales. Diolch.
Welsh: Mae dementia yn glefyd creulon sy'n cael effaith enfawr ar filoedd o deuluoedd ledled Cymru. Gwn am ei effaith ddinistriol ar fy nheulu fy hun oherwydd roedd dementia ar fy hen fodryb. Byddwn yn clywed llawer o straeon personol a phwerus yn cael eu rhannu yn ystod y ddadl hon, felly i ategu hynny, roeddwn am ganolbwyntio ar yr hyn a oedd gan sefydliadau'r trydydd sector i'w ddweud am yr hyn y gellid ei wneud i helpu i wella bywydau pobl a lleddfu ergyd dementia. Mae Cymdeithas Alzheimer Cymru yn amcangyfrif bod tua 50,000 o bobl yng Nghymru yn byw gyda dementia, a dim ond amcan yw hwn gan mai dim ond 50 y cant yw'r gyfradd ddiagnosis bresennol, fel y clywsom. Disgwylir i'r ffigur hwnnw ddyblu erbyn 2050. Mae cael darlun mor anfanwl o ddementia yng Nghymru yn golygu nad yw llawer o bobl yn cael y cymorth y maent ei angen neu'n ei haeddu. Mae hefyd yn golygu bod llawer sy'n cael cymorth yn ei gael yn hwyrach nag y dylent, gan arwain at ganlyniadau gwaeth i bawb dan sylw. Mae tystiolaeth anecdotaidd yn awgrymu bod tua 4,000 o bobl yng Nghymru yn aros am asesiad gan y gwasanaeth asesu cof oherwydd ôl-groniad COVID. Yn ogystal â diagnosis gwell a chynharach, mae Cymdeithas Alzheimer Cymru o blaid arsyllfa ddata dementia genedlaethol, fel y clywsom gan Luke yn gynharach, i gasglu, dadansoddi a lledaenu gwybodaeth am ddementia i'r holl asiantaethau a darparwyr gwasanaethau sydd angen data cywir i'w helpu i gynllunio a darparu gwasanaethau dementia ledled Cymru. Mae llawer o deuluoedd sydd â phrofiad o ddementia yn gwybod bod baich gofal yn aml yn syrthio arnynt hwy. Gwyddom o'r cyfyngiadau symud cyntaf o ganlyniad i'r coronafeirws fod teulu a ffrindiau wedi treulio 92 miliwn o oriau ychwanegol yn gofalu am anwyliaid â dementia. Ers i'r pandemig ddechrau, amcangyfrifir bod gofalwyr di-dâl wedi darparu gwerth £135 biliwn o ofal ledled y DU. Mae gofalwyr di-dâl wedi cael eu cymryd yn ganiataol, ond ar ba gost iddynt hwy? Ni all hyn barhau. Mae'r pandemig wedi dwysáu'r anawsterau presennol i gael gafael ar wasanaethau cymorth priodol, asesiadau gofalwyr a gofal seibiant. Mae'r ffaith bod y system gofal cymdeithasol wedi'i thanariannu ers cyhyd wedi gadael llawer o bobl heb unman i droi. Fe waethygodd symptomau dementia i lawer oherwydd diffyg cymorth arbenigol yn ystod y pandemig. Mae'n hanfodol ein bod yn dysgu'r gwersi o'r pandemig. Amlygodd y pandemig y diffygion yn y system, ac mae'n hollbwysig fod y rhai sydd â'r cyfrifoldeb a'r pŵer i ailadeiladu'r system mewn sefyllfa well i ymdrin â'r mathau o straen eithafol a welsom dros y 18 mis diwethaf. Trof yn awr at y system gofal cymdeithasol yng Nghymru - mater rwyf wedi'i godi eisoes yr wythnos hon gyda'r Prif Weinidog, yn ystod cwestiynau i'r Prif Weinidog, oherwydd gweithredoedd Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol Caerffili a reolir gan y Blaid Lafur a'r cynlluniau dinistriol ar gyfer gofal cymdeithasol i oedolion anabl. Mae cymaint i'w wella, a hyd nes y gwelwn bolisïau radical yn y maes hwn, bydd cleifion, eu teuluoedd a'r staff sy'n gweithio yn y sector hwn yn parhau i ddioddef. Dylai'r newid radical hwnnw fod ar ffurf uno gofal cymdeithasol a gofal iechyd. Rydym wedi bod yn galw am hyn ers bron i ddegawd, ac eto nid yw i'w weld damaid yn nes. Pe bai gofal yn rhad ac am ddim lle mae ei angen a phe bai newid diwylliant a fyddai'n golygu bod gweithwyr gofal yn cael eu parchu a'u gwerthfawrogi o ran cyflog ac amodau, byddai newid sylweddol i weithwyr yn y sector, a hefyd i'r cleifion sydd angen y gwasanaeth hanfodol hwn. Byddai uno nid yn unig o fudd i'r rhai â dementia, ond i bawb sydd angen gofal cymdeithasol. Rwy'n annog y Llywodraeth i wneud yr hyn sy'n iawn i bobl Cymru. Diolch.