Dementia care costs could soar to £90billion-a-year by 2040 without urgent government action, new research shows today.
The Alzheimer’s Society warns the figure has already hit £42billion with families bearing the brunt of costs associted with the devastating disease. Using records of 26,000 people over seven years, the charity’s research shows loved ones are taking on as much as 63% of all dementia costs.
Sounding the alarm over the “forgotten crisis”, the organisation adds spending on diagnosis makes up less than 1.4% of the dementia healthcare costs. It warns that lack of early diagnosis results in families being “left to pick up the pieces” with “catastrophic costs further down the line”.
Kate Lee, Alzheimer’s Society CEO, said: “One in three people born today will develop dementia. It’s the biggest health and care issue of our time, yet it isn’t the priority it should be amongst decision-makers. We wouldn’t accept this for any other terminal disease, we shouldn’t accept this for dementia.”
She added: “One in three people with dementia do not have a diagnosis. They are facing dementia alone without access the vital care, support, and treatments. If we don’t address diagnosis, we have no hope of addressing the major dementia challenges we face and reducing the cost to the health service and wider economy.
“Dementia’s devastating impact is colossal – on the lives of those it affects, on the healthcare system and on the economy. Now is the time to prioritise dementia, and that starts with getting more people diagnosed.”
Line of Duty actress and Alzheimer’s Society Ambassador, Vicky McClure, said: “People showing signs of dementia, those now living with the condition and the people that love and care for them are being forgotten – it has become the UK’s forgotten crisis despite dementia being the UK’s biggest killer.
The Bafta-winning star whose grandmother Iris lived with dementia before she died in 2015 added: “I’ve seen first-hand the challenges families face before and after a diagnosis and having supported Alzheimer’s Society to push for change for many years, it breaks my heart that we’re stuck in the same place with hundreds of thousands of people still undiagnosed.”
A Department of Health and Social Care spokeswoman said: “Timely diagnosis of dementia is vital, which is why we’re working to identify and treat more people and provide potential new treatments as they become available. We’re also doubling funding for dementia research to £160 million a year by the end of 2024/25, and dementia is one of six major conditions included in our upcoming Major Conditions Strategy.”