MP Julie Elliot is backing the campaign

The sisters have written to Sunderland MP Julie Elliott who has pledged her support to their campaign.

Julie Elliott said: “This is an extremely sad story, and what Lesley and Ashleigh and the rest of the family have been through was harrowing, when I met with them it was clear the heartbreak they had endured.

“It goes without saying that better care, more funding for training of medical staff and an overhaul of social care, in particular within the care of dementia patients, is needed and I give my support to their campaign for this.”

Debra Stephen, deputy director of quality and safety at North East Ambulance Service, said: “As a trust, we recognise the challenges that can be faced by patients living with dementia as well as those caring for them.

“Since 2016, we have been working to improve the knowledge and skills of our staff, which has included becoming a dementiafriendly organisation and being part of a regional dementia network to share best practice.

“We have a dementia awareness session in our statutory and mandatory training for all staff and have produced an Introduction to Dementia booklet for frontline staff.

“We have also worked with the Alzheimer’s Society to develop a communication tool to assist our front line staff when caring for patients living with dementia and have developed our dementia strategy, which aims to further improve the service we provide.”