What to Do After a Dementia Diagnosis in Wales: Your First 30 Days
Week One: Legal and Financial Foundations
The single most time-sensitive action after a dementia diagnosis is registering Lasting Powers of Attorney while your parent still has mental capacity to sign them. You need two — a Property and Financial Affairs LPA (for bank accounts, pensions, and bills) and a Health and Welfare LPA (for medical treatment and care placement decisions).
Register both with the Office of the Public Guardian at £92 each. The OPG takes 16 to 20 weeks to process registrations, which is why starting immediately matters. If income is below £12,000, apply for a fee remission using Form LPA120.
In the same week, file an Attendance Allowance claim with the DWP. This non-means-tested benefit pays £76.70 per week (lower rate) or £114.60 per week (higher rate) for 2026/27. The higher rate applies when supervision or assistance is needed during both the day and night; a diagnosis alone does not determine the rate. The claim form asks you to describe what your parent cannot do safely — be specific about real incidents, not general statements.
Week Two: Council Tax and Dementia Connector
Apply for the Significant Cognitive Impairment council tax discount through your parent's local authority. Under the 2026 Welsh regulations, a registered medical practitioner such as a GP, consultant, or neurologist must certify the condition as permanent and your parent must be entitled to a qualifying disability benefit. Attendance Allowance can be the qualifying benefit; if a claim is pending, ask the council what evidence of entitlement it accepts.
If your parent lives alone, this produces a 100% council tax exemption. If they live with one other adult who is liable for council tax, it creates a 25% single-person discount. Wales backdates the discount to the date of diagnosis as standard, so a successful application can trigger a refund of several thousand pounds. GPs cannot charge for completing or signing the SCI certificate.
Contact your parent's Local Health Board to ask about their Dementia Wellbeing Connector service. Under Standard 12 of the All-Wales Dementia Care Pathway of Standards, a named coordinator should be assigned to guide your family from diagnosis through the care pathway. The connector helps produce a personalised well-being plan and coordinates referrals.
Week Three: Safety and Home Assessment
Complete the Herbert Protocol form — a national policing initiative that pre-compiles a detailed personal profile (medication, routines, childhood addresses, recent photograph) to accelerate missing person searches. Download it from your regional Welsh police force website and store it securely at home in an agreed location accessible to family and responders.
Assess immediate home safety risks. Simple interventions make a meaningful difference: removing trip hazards, installing motion-sensor night lights, and fitting discrete locks on external doors. Contact your local authority to request an occupational therapy assessment — simple equipment up to £1,000 is provided free of charge.
If wandering is already a concern, look into telecare services available through the local authority, including door sensors and pendant alarms.
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Week Four: Care Assessment and Long-Term Planning
Contact the local authority's adult social services team to request a care needs assessment under the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014. The assessment is free and evaluates what support your parent requires. At the same time, request a carer's needs assessment for yourself — your own support needs are assessed independently of your parent's.
The care needs assessment leads to a financial assessment if your parent needs funded services. For local-authority-arranged non-residential care (home care), Wales caps the maximum weekly charge at £100 regardless of how many hours are delivered. The capital threshold for home care is £24,000 — at or below this, savings are fully disregarded and only income is assessed.
Start a care file. Gather bank statements, pension details, benefit letters, and medical records into one place. You will need these for the financial assessment, and having them organised saves weeks of back-and-forth with the council later.
Beyond 30 Days
This initial period establishes the legal authority, financial protections, and safety measures that everything else builds on. As needs progress, the pathway leads to reviews of the care plan, potential NHS Continuing Healthcare screening if clinical needs escalate, and decisions about whether home care or residential care is appropriate.
The Wales Dementia Care Guide maps the complete pathway from diagnosis through to funding decisions, with checklists and templates for each stage — including the CHC evidence-mapping grid and a financial assessment preparation matrix.
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Download the Wales — Dementia Support Checklist — a printable guide with checklists, scripts, and action plans you can start using today.