Diagnosing and treating dementia costs local authorities £4.5bn a year, even though two-thirds of sufferers and their families are footing the social care bill themselves, new research reveals.
The Alzheimer's Society warns that the health and social care system ‘unfairly disadvantages’ those with dementia, who are picking up a £5.8bn social care bill for help with everyday tasks. Dementia UK: second edition also found carers are providing 1.3bn hours of unpaid care every year.
The society is warning that at the current rate, the number of people living with dementia will bypass two million by 2051 if action is not taken to improve diagnosis rates and treatment.
Jeremy Hughes, chief executive of Alzheimer's Society, said: ‘This new research exposes the staggering financial and human impact of dementia. It is plain to see that our social care system is on its knees, leaving an army of tens of thousands of unpaid carers bearing the brunt. If you have cancer or heart disease you can quite rightly expect that the care you need will be free. That is just not the case for people with dementia. Families are forced to break the bank to pay for basic care for a loved one.
‘These spiralling costs cannot continue unchecked. 225,000 people develop dementia in the UK every year - that is one every three minutes. While government has woken up to the challenge dementia presents, today's report reveals we need radical solutions and serious funding commitments to put social care on a sustainable footing.'
The Alzheimer's Society is calling for a commitment to improve the dementia diagnosis rate to 75% by 2017, with no-one waiting longer than 12 weeks to see their GP.
