Sir Michael Parkinson will today return to his famous chair to interview three people about dignity and respect for those in care and discuss how ordinary people can inspire others to treat people in care with the dignity they deserve.

At an event in Covent Garden, his interviewees will be:

* Barbara Pointon, an Ambassador for the Alzheimer's Society;
* Barbara Dearnley, an 80-year-old woman who has been involved in the 'Improving the Care of the Older Person' project at Kings College Hospital: and
* Amanda Waring, an actress who produced the short film 'What do you see' to raise awareness about how we treat older people.

Over the past six months, in his role as Dignity Ambassador, Sir Michael Parkinson has together with Care Services Minister Phil Hope, met with Dignity Champions and older people. They have been listening to older people receiving care services and Dignity Champions to find out what constitutes best practice, how to share that practice and where improvements can be made to ensure everyone receiving care is treated with dignity and respect.

They have seen a number of initiatives, such as protected meal times, meaningful activities which help staff provide more personalised care for people with dementia, menus with pictures so that residents can see what they are ordering and curtains around beds which were improved to increase privacy.

Since Sir Michael joined the Dignity in Care campaign in May this year the numbers of Dignity Champions across the country has almost tripled to more than 4,000.

Today, Sir Michael Parkinson and Phil Hope will be meeting around 200 Dignity Champions, which include nurses, care home staff, voluntary sector workers, porters, council staff and managers in health and social care. All of them are committed to making a difference to the way in which older people are treated in care. What they do in their roles as Dignity Champions varies widely but what they all share is a commitment to making a difference, however small, to the way older people experience care.

Dignity Ambassador Sir Michael Parkinson said:

"Over the past six months, I have had have the great honour of meeting some of our nation's real unsung heroes, hearing their stories and bringing attention to what they are doing to hopefully inspire many others to follow suit. They are ordinary people doing everyday things. But in their own way having tremendous impact on those around them.

"Hopefully I can use my role as Dignity Ambassador to make a real difference and ensure the issue of dignity move to the heart of all NHS and care services."

Minister of State for Care Services, Phil Hope said:

"People want and have a right to expect services with dignity and respect at their heart. Ultimately, higher standards will enable people to live their own lives as they wish, confident that services are of high quality."

One of the Dignity Champions that Sir Michael Parkinson and Phil Hope will be meeting today is Jayne Biddiscombe, a staff nurse from Weston-super-Mare, who was the 3,000th person to sign up as a Dignity Champion. She said:

"I was originally inspired to sign up as a Dignity Champion after reading a heart wrenching article in a magazine about a mother who's daughter did not receive the dignity she deserved when she was in care. I wanted to make a difference and ensure that other people do receive the dignity and respect they deserve when they are at their most vulnerable.

"I passionately believe that maintaining and ensuring a person's dignity is important right to the end. Dignity in death, is just as important as in life."

Anyone wanting to recognise the dedication of an individual or team who have gone above and beyond the call of duty to improve patient dignity in care, can nominate them for the People's Award for Dignity in Care. Local nominees will be put forward for the nine regional awards and one overall winner will then be chosen by panel of national judges.