Oakes appointed Dignity Champion

3.30.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Sun 19th Jul 2009

Graham Oakes has been appointed as a Dignity Champion for his work with both care homes and in domiciliary care. Graham, a Nurse, commented: "I have spent almost my entire nursing career working with older people, in the NHS, care home and domiciliary care and I have always been committed to providing care in a way that maintains that individual dignity and treats them with respect. I am proud to become a Dignity Champion."

"Far too many of our MPs have only ever worked in the political world or come from privileged backgrounds and so have no idea what the pressures are that people face as carers."

"Although I've worked with people who have a dementia for 21 years I can only imagine what its like to be them."

"The government has under funded services for older people in Devon for years and now needs to properly fund its dementia strategy, so that people can be treated with dignity and respect."