Dementia NI Member Forum Calls For Action On Lasting Power Of Attorney
Dementia NI's Member Forum is calling on the Northern Ireland Executive to provide a clear timetable for implementing Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA), ensuring people can plan for their future care and have confidence that their wishes will be respected.
Established in 2024, the Member Forum is made up of people living with a diagnosis of dementia who campaign to improve the rights of those affected by the condition. One of its key priorities is the implementation of Lasting Power of Attorney, as outlined in the Mental Capacity Act (Northern Ireland) 2016.
Despite the legislation being passed almost a decade ago, people in Northern Ireland still cannot appoint someone to make decisions about their care, treatment and personal welfare if they lose capacity.
Dementia NI member Graham McElhinney, who is living with Alzheimer's disease and Vice Chair of the Member Forum, said:
"We are extremely concerned that Northern Ireland is so far behind the rest of the UK in being able to put a Lasting Power of Attorney in place. We feel this breaches our right to make decisions about our own healthcare."
There are more than 23,000 people living with dementia in Northern Ireland. While England and Wales introduced Health and Welfare Lasting Power of Attorney in 2007, implementation in Northern Ireland remains outstanding.
Stephanie Green, Dementia NI’s Campaigns Lead, said:
“In England, Lasting Power of Attorney was implemented in 2007 – two years after the legislation. Here we introduced legislation in 2016, and it may still take several years to implement.”
In June 2025, the Member Forum met with representatives from the Departments of Justice and Health and was informed that work on Lasting Power of Attorney had been paused. Members have since written to Ministers and Assembly Committees urging them to prioritise its implementation.
Independent MLA and former Justice Minister Claire Sugden, who has repeatedly raised the issue at Stormont, said:
"Families deserve the same rights as those elsewhere in the UK to plan for future care with confidence and peace of mind. This gap must be closed without further delay."
Dementia NI is calling on the NI Executive to commit to a clear timetable for implementing Lasting Power of Attorney so that people living with dementia in Northern Ireland have the same rights as those across the rest of the UK.